A One Track State Of Mind
by LostInnocenz
Summary: Ebony has been stuck in the Underground for two years now. She struggles to find a way out of there, with hopes of finding what had been lost to her. She just wasn't expecting any... feelings to sprout while Underground, and it begins to interfere greatly with her plans of escaping. (OC/Sans, as well as a little bit of OC/Grillby. May contain smut eventually, but has some fluff!)
1. Get It Together

**Chapter 1: Get It Together**

Walking to the entrance of the establishment, Ebony stared up at the sign.

 _'Grillby's'?_

In smaller letters underneath, it also stated, 'Bar and Restaurant.'

Honestly, 'Grillby's' was a weird name for a place, but the girl had definitely seen worse. She stepped up to one of its huge windows, cupping her hands and pressing them against the glass to form a mini-window of her own. Then she pushed her face up against her hands and squinted, peeking through the frosted glass and into the bar. A plethora of monsters sat at various tables, and a couple of them lined the counter. Behind that counter, a tall bartender was busying himself with dusting and tidying the bottles of liquor against the wall.

Well, they seemed friendly enough... As well as organized, from the looks of things.

It had been quite some time since the woman had set foot in a bar, let alone by herself, but times were fucked up and she sure did need a drink or two. Ebony walked into the building and the tiny bell above the door jangled, her skin tingling immediately as she drank in the warm atmosphere. Raucous laughter, a jumble of conversations meshing in with one another... Her heart began to pound.

Her eyes immediately caught the jukebox sitting in the right-hand corner of the bar, but she was surprised to find that nobody was playing anything from it. She considered putting something on, just for music's sake, but decided against it in the end.

Pushing her short brown hair behind her right ear, the girl steeled herself and finally strolled up to the counter, where the bartender stood with his back facing her. The man's height was a little overwhelming, almost intimidating compared to her stature - and what the _crap,_ was he on _fire?_ \- but God help her if she wasn't going to have that drink of hers. Ebony hopped up onto one of the stools and sat patiently, one hand politely folded over the other out of habit. She couldn't disguise her brief look of disappointment when she looked down at her feet: They were dangling a good inch or two from the ground. She knew she wasn't exactly a _midget,_ but it still made her feel pretty darned short.

"Good evening, madam. What can I get you today?"

Ebony jumped in her seat, her concentration abruptly broken, and stared up at the flaming bartender. He had spoken softly to the girl, using an index and middle finger to push the glasses back up onto his face. He waited patiently for an answer and placed his rag on the countertop as the young girl stumbled unceremoniously on her words.

"Ah! I-er... Something... strong? I mean, maybe something sweet. Or - I'm sorry; I'm normally not the one who orders drinks-" Pushing strands of hair out of her face, Ebony bit the inside of her cheek as she struggled to compose herself. She flushed lightly, feeling ashamed for not knowing what she actually wanted, and stared at one of the big bottles of booze on a shelf just past the man's right shoulder to avoid his gaze. He was unexpectedly all sorts of attractive, and hearing him speak those two sentences in an accent she couldn't quite put a finger on... It completely flustered her.

Chuckling, the bartender nodded once in understanding and reached under the counter to grab a clean shot glass. "How about I give you a little bit of both? You tell me whether you like it, and I'll give you more if you so desire."

Hearing the man's last phrase greatly embarrassed Ebony. She agreed in a tiny voice in response to the inquiry and held a hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to hide her face, if only a little. She suddenly couldn't help wondering what the guy must look like in bed, with nothing on... except for maybe that vest. She could already see lines of muscle through the sleeves of his white dress shirt. Damn, he was probably toned as all hell too.

 _God dammit; Ebony, *PLEASE* don't,_ she scolded herself harshly. _Not right now. Don't you *dare* start up with that again._

The young girl had a horrible, indecent tendency to imagine what some strangers might look like during sex, and that crazy imagination of hers was kicking up again at the worst possible time. It was the hardest of her habits to break... Even with men who were obviously on fire, it seems.

Ebony carefully eyed the bartender as he poured the shot for her. Weird. There was something about him; something she liked in him already. Perhaps it was the air of maturity he held around himself? The _glasses,_ even? Or maybe the girl was already getting drunk off the smell of cinnamon and musk that lingered in the air when he nodded toward her and walked off into the kitchen. She always loved the smell of cinnamon, so she tried to brush that off as her reason for being the way she was right now. She grabbed the glass of alcohol and downed it in one gulp, squeezing her eyes shut and forcing herself to take it like a man.

* _Holy crap,*_ it was strong. But it was actually pretty delicious stuff. The taste of some sweet peach flavour that had been added in the shot remained on her tongue. Ebony's throat felt like it was melting, but in a pleasant manner; the alcohol had warmed her body immediately, and her eyes glazed over as she sighed happily. _This_ was what she needed, and she felt it sufficient enough to keep her buzzed for a good period of time.

There was just so much on her mind. She had been stuck Underground for about two years now, and she needed to discover how to get out. Even though almost everyone was good to her, Ebony was still having a hard time adjusting herself to the sight of all the strange creatures she bumped into.

And while she was confined Underground, there was still the matter of her brother...

She wrapped both hands around the glass and sort of fazed out for a good minute or two, letting the liquor calm her nerves as her thoughts drifted off. She, however, didn't notice the short monster hopping up to the counter only two stools away from her.

"Heya Grillbz, I'll take a burger," said the voice as the bartender returned from the kitchen. Sounded like a regular customer. With a wordless nod of acknowledgement, the flaming man stepped back into the kitchen. The stranger spoke in a low voice, but did not sound harsh in any form. In fact, the voice was almost soothing, if not perhaps a bit goofy.

Did all the monsters here have great voices, or was it just her imagination? Turning to glimpse at the owner of said 'soothing' voice, Ebony couldn't contain the gasp of surprise that escaped her drunken lips as she found herself staring at a grinning skeleton who was casually drinking a bottle of ketchup beside her.

Casting a sideways glance at Ebony after hearing the gasp, the skeleton's grin grew a fraction. He set the ketchup back onto the countertop and sat up in his stool, turning to face the girl as he shot a wink her way. "What'sa matter? You got a _bone_ to pick with me?"

Ebony was speechless; her mouth was ajar and she had one eyebrow raised, her cheeks still hot from the shot she had consumed. She wasn't that drunk yet, right? And did this thing just make a pun about _bones... to her?_ She looked around and realized that, yes, he had meant to speak to her.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Hello, friends and readers. This will be the first story I'm putting up myself, and I haven't done this "writing" thing in years. I used to write stories with my friends, but never put anything out there without them. Please be kind to me as I, y'know, stumble along over here!_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	2. You Were Saying?

**Chapter 2: You Were Saying?**

The question that the skeleton posed didn't sound threatening at all. And he was grinning, so he was _probably_ joking, right? Ebony narrowed her mossy green eyes at the monster and sat stock-still in her seat for a moment, trying to get a read on the guy. She didn't have a _bone_ to pick with him, but she couldn't figure out what his angle was here.

Rubbing the back of his head, the skeleton made an attempt to introduce himself as he stretched out his free bony hand toward the girl. "Guess you're not one for jokes, huh? The name's Sans. Sans the skeleton. I'm pretty _humerus_ once you get to know me. Heh."

He had a thick blue coat with a fur-lined hood and also wore a loose fitting white t-shirt under that coat. It would have been a little passable if he weren't also wearing black basketball shorts... and _those fuzzy pink slippers._ His sense of style was very questionable, to say the least. And who wears this get-up in a town called 'Snowdin,' where it always snows? It probably didn't matter anyway, since the guy was a _skeleton_ , for goodness' sake.

Ebony lifted the shot glass up to her lips and tilted it upward, forgetting entirely that she had already emptied it just a few minutes ago. One drop of alcohol trickled into her mouth, and her tongue warmed temporarily at the contact. Her eye contact didn't stray from Sans' as she did this. She thought she could spot a couple of drops of sweat on his skull as he awkwardly awaited some sort of response from her. Finally, her conscience got the best of her and she reluctantly decided to answer to keep from coming across as a rude human. She was pret-ty sure humans got enough crap in this world of monsters as is for being rude little prejudiced shit-stains. And who were the * _real*_ monsters here, after thinking about that?

"My...? Sorry. Uh. My name is Ebony Balkan. I'm sorry," the woman apologized uncomfortably as she held the cup in her left hand and settled it onto her lap.

"I dunno, you don't seem very _bony_ to me," snickered the skeleton. Confused at that, Ebony reached over to shake hands firmly with Sans and a huge protest in the form of obnoxious flatulent noises sounded off from the space between her and Sans' hands. The cup nearly flew from Ebony's other hand as her jaw dropped open in surprise. She couldn't help letting out a short laugh after a moment of silence, her hand still gripping Sans' phalanges. What the hell just happened?

Sans laughed delightedly as well - it sounded like a series of silly snorts and chuckles - and held his hand up to show off the offending 'weapon' that was strapped against his palm. "Whoopee cushion trick; gets people all the time. Glad you enjoyed that, at least." It was a wonder seeing the pinpricks that were his eyes just light up happily in his skull after successfully pranking Ebony.

She found it sort of cute. But... Something was wrong with her. A skeleton? _Cute?_ The corner of her mouth twitched against her will as she tried to keep from smiling too much, but honestly, she did appreciate the prank. It was a nice change of pace from Ebony's usual daily routine. And it was definitely a nice change from her usual noisy, destructive roommate. At least nothing broke.

The bartender returned with the burger for Sans and gazed at both his customers, and Ebony swore she saw the faint hint of an eyebrow raised in silent inquiry about the situation.

"I see you've met a regular of mine. Is he causing you any trouble?"

"Thanks for the burg, Grillby!" Sans thanked the bartender and pulled the burger in front of him, then made a big show of rolling his eyes as he took a big swig of... ketchup. Right. Cute laughter aside, _that_ was still bizarre. "I'll have you know, I never cause anyone any _treble_ around these parts!"

Ebony let this one slide because she secretly enjoyed musical puns, but figured she should add her two cents in. "No sir, he was just trying to be friendly, I think." She added the last bit with a little uncertainty, though she was pretty sure Sans really didn't mean any harm. Then she realized something: "Thank you for the alcohol, by the way. But I just noticed... You don't card people before they order drinks here?"

The girl was only 20, after all, and though she was admittedly very close to becoming 21 in a couple of months, when it was legally okay for most people her age to drink Aboveground, she couldn't help asking anyway. Maybe it was different Underground? Regardless, age obviously never stopped her from drinking before, and it wouldn't make any difference now.

Grillby cocked his head slightly to one side at that question, as if it were the first time he had heard of the concept.

"Eh? 'Card'? Well, I assume that as long as my customers don't cause problems while drinking in my bar, I don't quite see why I should have to. Of course, I didn't say anything," said the man smoothly as he pushed his glasses up again, his eyes locked on Ebony's. Was that a smile tugging at his lips? "At the end of the day, it's a matter of my judgement as long as I run this establishment, and I daresay I make rather good judgements of people who... come for my service."

There was that sexual innuendo again. Is that how he always spoke? It was driving her up the wall, and Ebony squirmed in her seat a little.

 _Oh GOD. He needs to stop with that._ Ebony cleared her throat casually as she avoided Grillby's gaze once more. No telling what would happen at this point if he kept egging her on like this. It wasn't making her uncomfortable, per se, but she was definitely feeling her heart skip a beat or three with these discreet comments.

"With that said, I can make another drink for you if you would like," Grillby offered politely as he held a hand out for the shot glass. Ebony complied and placed the cup in the man's hand; she wasn't much of an alcoholic, and she was already buzzing a good deal, but another shot should be fine. It usually only took her about four gulps of hard alcohol before she got shit-faced... Though, it really depended on how strong each shot was.

Grillby watched as the woman sipped carefully at the cup this time. He knew she was trying to pace herself now, as the last shot had been rather high in alcohol content. Per her request, of course. Strong _and_ sweet, after all, right?

" _Damn,_ this one is really good! I like sweet stuff like this," Ebony commented, dipping her pinky into her cup and swirling it in a full circle. Right now, the girl was moving on to her third shot, and she was already slurring some of her words. She was a total lightweight when it came to drinking, but that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy the experience!

"Perhaps you could start a tab with me if you plan on drinking more... Or if you intend to eat as well." The flaming bartender leaned over the counter and smiled kindly while Ebony stared drunkenly up at him. Her vision was already swimming, and god DAMN did Grillby look even brighter and more tantalizing than he did when she first walked in...

Sans grinned almost apologetically to himself and whistled a nonsensical tune, picking away at the sesame seeds on the bun of his burger with his bony fingertips. He knew what Grillbz was waiting for. It was probably that time of the week again, anyway. Sans could see the bar owner's gloved index finger tapping almost impatiently on the countertop, the flame monster's hunger beginning to show. That poor girl... The skeleton hoped Ebony had already caught on with what the bartender was trying to get at here.

But oh, she did catch on.

"You know what, maybe I should start a tab for tonight. There _was_ something I always wanted to try eating..." Ebony slumped to one side a little, resting her chin in the open palm of her right hand, and her cheeks burned as much as her gaze did when she looked up at Grillby. "... And I think I forgot my wallet at home."

"You sure you're okay with that, kid?" Sans just thought he'd double check with his new friend. He knew rape wasn't necessarily what Grillbz was going for; ohhh no. The flame man was much classier than that. But the bartender was still known for his 'tabs'-or rather, his choice list of fuck buddies. And it seems Grillby had taken a great interest in this woman.

"Oh, I'm very sure I'm okay with that." Ebony smiled sweetly at Sans and downed the rest of her alcohol.

The look that Ebony gave Grillby as she pushed the empty shot glass towards the man... That undisguised look of _hunger,_ of _lust_...

Sans could feel himself shiver.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Hello! I really do appreciate the views as well as the reviews that people are taking the time to leave me! Writing this and taking the time to go over it before posting is surprisingly relaxing, and I'm finding that this is good practice for making me focus on one thing at a time. Please look forward to the next chapter while I look forward to everyone's support!_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**

 ** _**EDIT**: I added in something VERY small to this, but I had noticed that somehow I overlooked the fact that Sans should have most definitely made a comment about something very obvious! Ahahaha. *she laughs awkwardly* Anyway, it was a super small edit that I felt was necessary, so for those of you who read this more than once, maybe you'll see it right away. :D_**


	3. DESPAIRRR

**Chapter 3: DESPAIRRR**

 _Brother, please... Wake up-_

"-AY?"

What...? Ebony struggled to open her eyes, but they felt awfully heavy. She reached out blindly but was soon greeted with a loud _WHUMP_ , and the air quickly whooshed out of her diaphragm as she felt something large and cushion-y drop on top of her. A strangled squeak was forced from her throat and she dropped her arms to her side, surrendering and allowing the warm fabric settle around her figure. It was unexpected, but kind of nice when she considered how cold she was.

"Er, I don't know if that's what she actually wanted, bro." That familiar voice.

"BUT I CAN'T TELL WHETHER SHE'S OKAY IF SHE DOESN'T SPEAK UP!" retorted another voice huffily. Why was he speaking so _loudly_? It made Ebony's head throb unpleasantly, and she groaned miserably, holding a hand over her eyes and applying pressure. She felt something cool touch her forehead, and she finally cracked an eye open to blearily peek through her fingers. She hated being babied, because that was a thing she could never get used to. Her own parents were never the type to dote on their children.

The brown haired girl found herself face-to-face with Sans, who was standing by her side as she was lying down. He had one hand in his jacket's pocket, probably a force of habit, but his other hand was pressed against the girl's forehead as he leaned over and genuinely looked concerned. It looked like he was trying to check her temperature to see whether she had a fever. Ebony weakly brushed away the monster's hand, her brows furrowing from irritation as she muttered something barely audible about being alive and fine.

Sans, undeterred by the action of having his hand pushed away, simply let out a sigh of relief and took a step back, in which a different person decided to step excitedly in front of the smaller skeleton. Ebony had to tilt her head up a little just to get a full look at this new creature. Sporting a good amount of red with his attire, he was another skeletal being. But this one wore red gloves, a red scarf, red boots, and _a red cape?_ Was this dude a self-proclaimed super hero or something? She wasn't sure what to make of this one, but at least most of his clothing matched, unlike Sans.

"HUMAN, ARE YOU ALIVE NOW?" Ebony's face scrunched up a little; so that's where the loud voice was coming from. The skeleton proudly thumped his chest and continued on. "MY BROTHER, SANS, CARRIED YOU BACK HERE SAFELY. NOW IT'S MY TURN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM AN EXPERT AT BEING MOST HOSPITABLE. I HAVE GIVEN YOU MY BLANKET SO YOU CAN SLEEP BETTER. PLEASE PARTAKE IN THE BREAKFAST THAT I WILL HAVE READY FOR YOU WHEN YOU DECIDE TO AWAKEN AGAIN!"

Wow. Well, despite the incessant _yelling,_ this 'Great Papyrus' guy seemed alright. There was something familiar about his name, but Ebony merely nestled her head further down into her pillow and nodded once, feeling a little too weary to be surprised about anything else at the moment. She began to drift off to sleep only moments later as Sans pulled Papyrus away. The final thing that lulled Ebony back into her dream world was the flickering of a television and some talk show host speaking about cooking in the distance.

* * *

Ebony awoke with a start, clutching at her neck and gulping in breaths of air like a fish out of water. She sat up quickly and shivered as the cold air hit her hard. A purple blanket with a checkered pattern drooped halfway onto the floor, the other half pinned between her legs. Where the hell-

She glanced about frantically and sighed with relief when she found her beige scarf coiled up on the night stand beside the couch that she woke up on. That scarf should have been the last thing on her mind. In fact, she really should have been concerned about _where_ she woke up, but that article of clothing was pretty important to her. The girl couldn't afford to lose it in this world. She got off of the couch, pulling the blanket up to settle on the seat cushions, and stepped over to the corner of the room. Snatching her scarf from the tiny stand, she wound the long fabric around her neck and then recoiled when she felt something slimy squish against her skin. Undoing the scarf immediately and examining it, Ebony cringed and let loose a whine of disbelief. Her favourite accessory had freaking _PUKE_ on it.

"Noooo! FUCK ME!" the woman held the scarf in front of her, a look of dismay plastered onto her face as she yelled aloud in irritation. Sans walked into the house at that moment and found Ebony on her knees, slumped against the night stand and mumbling feelings of despair.

"If only I were _carp_ able of doing that," Sans snickered as he closed the front door, then looked at Ebony innocently. "But we haven't even gone on our first date! Moving kinda fast here, aren't we?"

Staring at Sans in horror now after he had just heard and seen what she was crying over, Ebony felt her jaw fall open again. She really needed to keep her meltdowns to a minimum... Dammit.

"Y'know, you've been doing that a lot lately: Just keeping that mouth open for everyone to see. Careful, people are gonna take you for a Froggit or somethin', and I'm sure you've got a better use for your mouth than that." The skeleton winked suggestively and grinned, then walked over to the brown haired girl, stopping short a few feet from her. "So what's got you _whale_ -ing like an animal so early in the morn?"

"Sans, _what the hell happened last night_?"

"Well uh... Lemme see here: You only had a few drinks, ate my burger, and were about to open up a 'tab' with Grillby," the skelebro began. He grimaced, his open grin faltering ever-so-slightly. "That's when you kinda... ralphed all over the bar counter. Musta been the alcohol speaking for you after all your 'sexy talk,' but it sure freaked Grillbz out, _tibia_ honest."

Thinking about Grillby losing his cool and panicking over a bar covered in puke, Ebony plopped onto her butt and stared down blankly at her scarf, shaking her head in disbelief. Holy fuck.

She flirted with possibly one of the only hottest guys in the Underground, was about to finally _get some_ , and then proceeded to _puke_ in front of him? Well, there went all chances of fucking with fire. Pun intended? In this case, sure. Whatever. Ebony held a hand up to her face, groaning in frustration. She wanted to curl into a ball, shrink into herself and disappear. That's what happens when a lightweight like her thinks she can handle her liquor.

"Y'know kid, I'm pretty sure your tab is still open with Grillby," Sans added in, trying half-heartedly to be helpful. He gave a noncommittal shrug with his bony shoulders. "I mean, you did kind of just leave him with your harem of chunks gracing the countertop, and I sure as heck won't be the one paying for all the drinks you had. Not this time, anyway. I have enough trouble as is running between all my jobs."

The girl groaned and begged, "Seriously, please don't describe my puke like that."

Rubbing liquid shame away from her eyes with the heel of her free hand, Ebony then suspiciously blinked up at Sans from the floor. "Wait, you have a _job_? _*Jobs*?_ "

 _And what did he mean by 'Not this time'? Does he...?_

Nah, couldn't be.

The skeleton feigned injury as he held a hand up to his ribcage, then said, "Ouch, girl. That one hit me right in the _eels_. Of course I have a job, you _funny bone._ "

Ebony's eyebrow twitched. God DAMN, all these puns. She not only over-drank and ruined her own beautiful scarf last night, but she probably ruined her only chance to bag a good fuck down here, too. In the two years she had been stuck Underground, Grillby was probably the only remotely attractive monster down here. She was _not_ in the mood for silly things like puns and jokes when she was pretty sure she screwed herself over royally, and not even in the way she would have preferred. "You think you're such a _PUNNY_ bonehead, don't you?"

Sans blushed - or at least, if turning blue meant he was _blushing_ \- and waved a hand dismissively before saying, "Aww shucks, you're makin' me blush. Yeah, I like to think I'm a pretty _punny_ guy. Didn't think you'd notice!"

The young girl's eyes narrowed slightly at the bony being until she remembered what she had to do. Right; her scarf needed major attention. Pulling herself to her feet, Ebony wandered around in what she now recognized was a living room. A sink... Or the bathroom? Anything? Stopping by the table near the front door, she didn't think it proper to head up the stairs. Bedrooms were most likely upstairs, and going up there was already crossing into the threshold of INTRUSIVE behaviour that she did not want to start up on.

All that was available to check in was what looked like a kitchen. The appliances in here were down to the bare minimum; there wasn't even a microwave. Sans casually followed suit, hand in his pockets. Ebony headed in and looked around, but saw nothing but a fridge, a misplaced wall, a countertop, a basket of trash, and a stove. Her eyes landed on the misplaced wall again and slowly trailed upward. Suddenly she cried out, exasperated.

" _SANS."_

"'Sup?"

"Don't you ''SUP' me!" Sans raised a brow at the girl's response.

Ebony thought she heard the skelebro mumble "Well, that sounds awfully familiar," but she threw a hand up in the air and motioned incredulously toward a sink that sat at the top of... not a misplaced wall, but a _cabinet. A really tall cabinet._ She could barely even see the sink from where she stood. The layout of this house was driving the girl crazy. No bathroom? And the only sink available is on the tallest cabinet known to mankind? "Why the fuck is the sink so high?! You guys aren't even tall enough to reach that on a normal basis!"

"You have a dirty mouth, don't you? Y'know, you should probably watch your swears if you know what's good for you," Sans interjected, his grin becoming almost spooky. Ebony's arm dropped to her side as she made note of the fact that Sans' left eye socket temporarily flashed an eerie blue. Yeah... Monsters were still creepy as hell. "Paps doesn't need to know those terms exist, so how 'bout you gimme a nod to let me know that you catch my drift?"

Ebony nodded quickly and silently, her eyes as wide as Spider Donuts while she apologized meekly. She was still despairing over her dirty scarf. There was no way she'd reach apparently the only source of water in the house. How was she going to clean the scarf now?

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Soooo Ebony *didn't* get any! Poor girl. Mwahaha. Don't worry, she will eventually, but sexy time felt a little too soon for me. ;D On the downside, I found out that I won't have any internet connection until at least the 8th due to some personal problems. As a result, I will sadly not be able to post much of ANYTHING until then. My heart breaks as my brain keeps overflowing with imagination right now. D:_**

 ** _Anyways, I suppose it'll give me more time to type in some extra chapters in the meantime, so it's not entirely horrible. And if I happen to have a connection while at work, I might be able to make a post there instead. :) Thank you again for the support, guys. Please stay on the lookout for the creation of another chapter-baby!  
_**

 ** _EDIT: So I noticed Just 2 Dream of You mentions something funny (and thank you for that; I wasn't sure who would!): Whether a bathroom exists in Sans' and Papyrus' house. ;) It took me a while to figure out as I examined the architecture of their house for the longest time, and I had noticed that there are no doors inside/outside the house that hint at having a bathroom! If you think about it, skeletons don't have bodily excretions like normal humans since they're missing the skin and guts, so having no bathroom in their house actually makes a bit of sense, right? :D_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	4. Priorities

**Chapter 4: Priorities**

Ebony had no choice but to let her scarf sit back on that night stand as Sans had insisted. Even after climbing on top of the counter in the kitchen, and even after teetering dangerously on the _counter_ by balancing on a chair, the girl had no hopes of reaching the sink's faucet handles when it was up so high on a cabinet. Holding a puke-covered scarf around Sans' house wouldn't make it become any cleaner, either. Her eyes darted frequently from Sans to the night stand, obviously concerned about possibly losing it even though it lay safely (and disgustingly) there. The only thing that distracted her from her thoughts was her stomach, which was whining and making embarrassingly needy noises.

Remembering that Papyrus had mentioned something about breakfast for her, Ebony asked Sans for permission to check in the refrigerator. Leaning back against the entrance of the kitchen, Sans couldn't stop snickering as he answered, "Go ahead, kid. You're gonna wanna knock on the door before you open it, though."

Ebony raised an eyebrow in suspicion, but hesitantly rapped her knuckles against the fridge door twice just to humor Sans. A solid _**CLUNK**_ _ing_ noise echoed throughout the house as she knocked on the big appliance, and the girl felt like the skeleton was making her look like a complete idiot right now.

"Knock knock!" He sounded a little too eager to start this up.

"Really...? We're doing this right now? I thought you only wanted me to knock."

Sans shushed her and told her to keep going, and that she wouldn't regret it. The guy had the worst shit-eating grin Ebony had ever seen, and she immediately felt skeptical about all this.

 _I swear, if some junk comes flying out at me after I open this door..._

Regardless, Ebony sighed dramatically. "Okay, okay: _Who's there?_ "

"Giddy."

"... Giddy who?"

"Better hope you're hungry enough to feel spa- _giddy_ when you see what's inside!"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Sans, did you seriously just - _WHAT IN THE WORLD IS ALL THIS?_ "

She knew she shouldn't be surprised any more, but god _*damn*_ was that really all spaghetti?! Containers upon containers of spaghetti filled the inside of the fridge, and the door was also lined with containers as well. Didn't majority of this stuff go bad? Wouldn't it _have_ to? Food was still food; it shouldn't matter whether someone prepared this Aboveground nor Underground. Fact was, there was no * _way*_ a person could eat all that. Well... She meant a normal person. A human. She could hear Sans snickering behind her.

"We could always pop by at Grillby's for some burgers and fries." Sans' grin grew wider, and Ebony could see he was dying with laughter on the inside just watching her face change with so many emotions from that one proposition.

"FUuuudge - NO." Ebony took care to correct herself quickly before Sans decided to eat her, or whatever it is monsters like him actually do, for letting a swear slip again. But was he nuts? The idea of going back to the bar terrified Ebony. It was much too soon, and just thinking about it made the woman's cheeks heat up considerably. She swallowed her thoughts of embarrassment away and tried to blow it off. "I mean... Maybe next time. The spaghetti looks so good, I love pasta myself, and Papyrus was the one who made it, right? I think I'll eat this instead. Where's the microwave? I'll just heat up a whole container and-"

"We don't have a microwave."

"Uh... Then how about a pot so I can use the stove?"

"We don't have pots. They're all at another person's house."

". . . _Pans_?"

"Nega-Tori."

It was too much nonsense in one day for Ebony. She flipped out. "Then what do you have? I can't just eat cold pasta! How the heck do you not have _anything_ in this god damn house? Why is everything so fucking _WEIRD_ and nonsensical down here? I just wanted to get out of the Underground and find my fucking brother; I didn't even want to be down here in the first place!"

The silly girl's temper had gotten the best of her. As soon as the words left her mouth, Ebony wished sorely to have the ability to grab everything that had spewed out and shove them back down her own throat. Curse her mouth.

"Humans sure are ungrateful and needy, huh? You're in someone else's house and complaining about the lack of things in it?" Sans let the girl rant and have her say, but as soon as she paused and hesitated, the skelebro was on her in a heartbeat. It happened so suddenly that Ebony gasped as his face was now only inches from her own. He had her backed up against the wall, and he was no longer grinning that cheerful, goofy grin. He looked very somber. Very... _*dangerous.*_

Closing his eyes for a moment, the skeleton spoke up again. "You're taking things for granted here. Y'know, I figure I'd give you the chance since everyone seems to like you. Paps is being good to you too, even though he should have already reported you to the captain of the Royal Guard so they could kill you and capture your Soul. But if you don't watch your attitude, I can assure you that _**you're gonna have a bad time**_ **."**

 _'Royal Guard'? Wait-_

Ebony quickly lost her train of thought and nearly wet herself when the monster opened his eyes, his fingertip trailing up the girl's neck until he stopped abruptly at her chin. In any other situation, that action alone might have drawn out a different reaction from her. But right now, all she saw were two endless voids in Sans' skull where the pinpricks of light used to be, and she could feel the monster's bony fingertip digging slightly into the bottom of her chin. It was all-over just a terrifying experience.

It seemed to last an eternity, but eventually, Sans removed his finger from Ebony's chin and closed his eyes once more. When he opened them, the little lights were back in those eye sockets and he was grinning just as easily again. Choking out a fevered apology, Ebony's eyes began to sting with tears as she raised a shaky hand up to her chin. She did not want to be there.

Sans reached up and placed a hand on Ebony's head, ruffling her straight brown hair and causing some strands to stick out in places. They were almost the same height, but Ebony felt like the smaller being at that moment. "Look, kid. I'd much rather be the _pun_ ster around you than having to _scare the swear_ out of you. Can you just take it easy on the swears and be a little more considerate around us monsters? We can be a lot more sensitive than you humans take us for... especially Papyrus. He needs to stay safe from anything that could ruin him. I... I don't want anything to happen to my bro. That's why I need to look out for 'im." He rubbed the back of his head and took a step back to give Ebony some room.

Ebony was trembling and biting the inside of her cheek until teeth broke through flesh, drawing a fraction of blood. She was truly sorry for the swearing, but she just did not want to be Underground. Living with monsters, dealing with houses that had no bathrooms, and just... just being by _herself_ down here. Fending for herself and just getting by for two years. Having her roommate at Waterfall was nice, and she was very thankful that her friend had the heart to Spare her. But-

This wasn't what she wanted.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Annnd the scary part of the holidays are officially over! Well, because I've been working in retail for two different companies, so the holiday struggles hit me twice as much as it usually would. :P There's still New Year's, and then it's time to start fresh yet again. I hope you guys have resolutions of your own as well! Even if you may not end up following through by the end of the year, it's still really nice to have a goal to think about. :)_**

 ** _I'm going to be honest and admit that I'm flying by the seat of my pants here with this story (that saying always makes me giggle because I can imagine flying backwards just like that c:), but I'm having a bunch of fun with it. Thank you for everyone's love and attention!_**

 ** _Thank you to WickedScribbles for always having something interesting to say about my chapters. It really lifts my spirits to see an update from you!_**

 ** _And thank you to Just 2 Dream of You, Shion, and Angel of Randomosity for taking the time to leave me reviews as well! I appreciate every little thing from everyone. You're all fantastic humans. Now I'm off to type up another chapter!_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	5. Forgetting In the Heat Of the Moment

**Chapter 5: Forgetting In the Heat Of the Moment**

"I have someone I want to protect, as well." The girl looked dejectedly at the ground as she gripped her opposite arm with her right hand. Her nails dug deep into her arm, through the fabric of her dark long sleeved shirt. She could taste the dull flavour of iron from the self-injury she had done to the inside of her cheek. "I never wanted to be here."

Ebony's eyes burned with a fire that stirred something deep within Sans.

Tears threatened to tumble from those big green eyes as Ebony met the skeleton's gaze. It was a familiar look for sure. Sans recognized it for what it was. The next words Ebony spoke, she had spat out in disgust, directed more toward herself rather than the monster in front of her. "Why is it fair for other people to do things in order to protect the ones they love, but I can't even do the same without people telling me it's wrong and trying to kill me? I'm so weak that I could barely save myself a year ago. Despite being a weak human, I'm still trying to make it back to his side. I've been trying to get Aboveground again for two years now, and I just _can't_ because I don't know how to. I _need_ to find him, but I can't do that while I'm running around down here. Every day I'm separated from him - Every day that he's stuck in his coma - I'm just going one more day worrying whether I've finally lost him for good. It's horrible, but I can't help it. I'm becoming more and more miserable the longer I'm stuck down here."

"Who're you tryin' to find?" Sans tilted his head to one side and jammed his hands into his jacket pockets. He had a feeling it wasn't an answer he wanted to hear, but he had asked anyways.

Ebony choked up, and finally those tears fell, big drops trickling down her cheeks.

" _MY_ brother."

"Kid-"

Refusing to stay and listen to anything after the dam had already broken, the girl hiccuped and pushed past Sans, leaving the house in tears and leaving the poor jokester speechless. Sans looked back at the beige scarf the brown haired girl had left behind.

* * *

Ebony ran off into the cold, forgetting about everything else and running to the first place she knew would make her feel better... despite having qualms about it earlier.

 _I just need to forget about it for a little bit._

 _I want to stop drowning in this worry._

 _I want him to be okay. . . But_ _ **let me breathe for a second**_ _._

Pushing the door open, the bell jangling once again, the woman swallowed her pride and sought out the one person who could help her 'forget.' She stalked over to the counter and found him:

Grillby.

The bartender faced Ebony and put his cleaning on hold, catching the look of desperation in her eyes. She was grateful that he did not bring up the embarrassment that was her drinking failure from the other night. Instead, he silently went into motion again and poured Ebony's preferred mixture into a shot glass for her. The girl accepted the alcohol shakily but gratefully downed it, as well as one more shot's-worth. She reached that buzzing point quickly - intentionally - and her face was still wet with tears. Maybe having such a low tolerance with alcohol was a good thing. Sometimes.

The man did not question why Ebony had chosen to come for a drink when it was still rather early in the day.

Leaning toward her slightly from his side of the counter, he held a gloved hand out to take the cup. Instead, Ebony placed her hand in his and focused on that spot alone. "Grillby, I... I want to pay that tab. If you'll allow."

Cocking his head to one side, the flaming man took Ebony's request into consideration and nodded a moment later. He sorely needed that release since the previous night's dilemma, and for the human to run up simply _asking_ for it... Well, who was he to deny such a tantalizing offer?

"If you will have me." Grillby bowed his head slightly and gently released the girl's grip on his hand. He walked throughout the bar and cordially let his other customers know that he would be closing up early, if not for just a couple of hours. They could come back for their fix of booze later. The other monsters had no problem whatsoever with that, and cleared out quickly enough. Soon, the whole bar was emptied out, save for the human and the flame monster.

"Your name, my dear?"

At that question, she realized she had introduced herself to Sans but not to the bartender. Ashamed for missing that, the girl answered softly with her name.

After locking up the door and closing the blinds in front of the huge windows, Grillby turned around and strolled over to Ebony, who was nursing her almost-empty glass of liquor while drunk and lost in thought. Placing a hand on Ebony's lap, the monster coaxed the girl to look up at him as he asked, "Good. Now. . . Bed, or bar?"

"Here... Please." Ebony blushed slightly at her own bold request and wondered how this was actually going to work out. She was surprised at herself for requesting the latter, but... Maybe the bed another time. It depended on how this experience ended, and besides, she was in a hurry to get some hot cock.

With a snap of his fingers, Grillby extinguished the flames in every one of the lamps throughout the bar, and even the neon sign that said his name above the jukebox eerily flickered off. Ebony hadn't realized that all the lights in this building was coming from _him_ , probably his magic, though now it seemed pretty obvious. The only source of light now was the flame monster himself, and this fascinated the girl immensely.

Her vision was blurred because of all her crying earlier, and now even more-so because she had consumed alcohol. But she watched as Grillby undid his bow tie first, then his vest, eyes never leaving Ebony's. After letting those flutter to the floor, he slowly unbuttoned the cuffs of his dress shirt as he murmured, "It may be best if you remove your clothes."

Ebony pulled her long sleeved shirt over her head and clumsily slipped out of it, her breasts bouncing slightly as she did so. Her heart was racing uncontrollably as Grillby hungrily watched her strip, his mouth showing a flash of sharp, flaming teeth as he smirked. His shirt and gloves were already hitting the ground as he stepped over to the young girl. The monster's body was lean, well-built, and _so fucking hot._ Ebony's face heated up; Grillby had a fucking V-cut. That was damn attractive.

Dipping his flaming head down a bit, Grillby wrapped his arm around Ebony's waist and pulled her close. Ebony exhaled shakily as the monster began to plant the hottest kisses all the way from her neck down to the edge of her bra, where he stopped and spoke in a low, strained voice. "Take this thing off, or else I'll burn it off for you."

He was grinding his crotch against hers through their pants, and Ebony swore she was already going to faint from that alone. Ebony fumbled for the hooks at the back of her bra and let the thing drop, and finally, her breasts were deliciously exposed to open air. She shivered, but only for the briefest of moments before Grillby's hot mouth engulfed one of her nipples, his sharp teeth grazing her skin ever-so-slightly.

Ebony let out a gasp of surprise, which soon gave way to the softest of moans as the creature licked and suckled at her breasts, giving each one an equal amount of attention as he used his hands to deftly remove his pants. He let the pants drop to his feet and continued sucking away. Ebony took that as a cue to start removing her own pants, and she quickly did so. _Oh dear god_ , his mouth felt like those long, hot showers she liked to take every morning.

Stepping back a bit, Grillby wrapped a hand around his cock and shook it once with a flick of his wrist, precum already dripping from the tip. It was impressive; nice and long, and pulsing with _flame._ Ebony gulped, almost regretting asking for this monstrosity, but she knew there was a nice warm spot between her legs that grew hungry with each passing second for such a thing.

"Bend over, love."

 _Oh god._ Being called 'love' by someone like this guy, with whatever accent he had, made Ebony so wet.

Complying with Grillby's demand, Ebony bent over the nearest table and shivered as the man trailed his heated fingertips all over her lightly tanned skin: Down her spine, along her waist... then her ass. He let his hand linger there for some time, just squeezing it into one cheek of her ass. Ebony had to wiggle her butt a little because the heat accumulating in one spot was becoming almost uncomfortable. Grillby's touch was _hot_ and it made Ebony's skin sensitive, but at least it didn't eat away at her skin.

"You tell me whether you like it, and I'll give you more if you so desire."

There was that phrase. Ebony had time to nod only once before her ass got spanked, the loud slapping noise dissipating into a pleasant sizzling sound. It happened so fast, she had heard it before actually feeling anything and didn't even have time to cry out in surprise until after the second spank to her left cheek. Grillby leaned forward and used one of his hands to guide and press his hot cock against Ebony's juicy folds, just teasing her. Ebony's mind was spinning, still drunk from the booze, but _**fuuuuck**_ _._ She never imagined it, but perhaps spanking was now a new 'thing' for her.

"You made a mess of my bar yesterday," Grillby finally mentioned, though he had no hint of anger in his voice. "Are you aware?"

Ebony flushed with major embarrassment and only let out a soft mewl when her partner gave another harsh spank, this time to the opposite cheek. Her ass was beginning to feel extremely sensitive; she could feel her folds becoming more wet with the minor abuse to her rear.

"Will you be making a mess once more?" Now Grillby was grinning. "Because oh, how I _**do**_ want to make a mess of you today."

The girl's legs trembled and her core ached, longing for that mess to finally happen.

"Mm, but tell me what it is you wish for, my dear." Grillby was getting on his knees and placing soft, fiery kisses up and down her thighs, and Ebony swore she felt something warm trickling down her inner thigh. The thought was confirmed when she moaned into the table top, Grillby's tongue expertly flicking away at her dripping juices.

" _Mmmn, FUCK..._ I need you."

"But what exactly do you need from me?"

Ebony shivered in anticipation as Grillby removed his glasses for a moment to bury his face into the girl's folds from behind, the man's hot breath making her pant with a need she had never felt before. "Your - _ah!_ \- Your cock; please, Grillby..."

Ebony looked back in the flaming monster's direction, still bent over the table and offering the best view for Grillby. The man had opened his mouth and pushed his tongue into the girl, drawing out the bartender's name in the form of a lust-filled moan. Smiling into Ebony's pussy, Grillby hungrily ate her out, making her cry out in pleasure a hundred times over. He took his sweet time before he stood again, using the heel of his hand to wipe away the excess of juice on his face. He put his frames back on his face. Then, using a hand to push his cock against Ebony's folds, the flaming man leaned over the girl's body and growled into her ear:

" _I'm going to fuck you so hard,_ _ **you'll never want to close this tab**_."

 _Holy fuck-_ Ebony's green eyes, glazed over with desire, rolled up to the back of her head for a moment as Grillby shoved his whole flaming length into the girl's dripping wet vagina, his hand splayed fully upon her back. She practically screamed the bartender's name as she felt her insides filling up lusciously with the heat of the man's member.

Grillby began to pound into her with a hunger so intense, he probably could have split Ebony apart if he wanted to. Her pussy felt so hot, so _good_ , and now the guy was pulling her head back slightly as he tugged onto locks of her hair.

"Tell me: How do you feel, love?" The flaming man was grunting with each thrust, his mouth almost touching his partner's ear as he questioned her.

 _Jesus *Christ,* he wants me to answer right now?_ Ebony could no longer think straight. She could only feel every push, every pull, and the hair on her neck stood on end from the sensation. Her fingers scrabbled, reaching out for something to hold onto, her lips parted slightly as a bit of drool flecked the table top. If anyone were looking in from the outside right now, the pair would have looked like two wild animals in heat. In which case, they probably were at this point.

All the girl could manage was, "More... I need _more_..."

Grillby's flame intensified as he shut his eyes tightly, his mouth slack-jawed as he repeatedly rumbled, " _Ebony... ah- yesss, Ebony. . ."_

Hearing her name roll off of the bartender's tongue like liquid fire, Ebony cried out for Grillby as she felt a white-hot sensation build up between her legs. Suddenly from behind, Grillby grunted and panted, " _Oh my god, oh god... You're so damn tight... Ebony, I'm cumming, please-"_

Ebony moaned in delight, all other thoughts fleeing her mind as she reached her orgasm from focusing on those words alone. All she could feel was the flaming man's cum fill her up completely, hot liquid oozing down her thighs as Grillby slumped over her figure. His cock softened up a little and he eased out of Ebony's pussy, not giving two shits about the mess dripping onto the floorboards. The fire emanating from his body wasn't as intense; now he felt like a warm blanket on top of her.

The two laid there for a good long while, panting and just enjoying the body heat.

Finally, she felt a hand on her head; it seemed Grillby was pushing the girl's hair back down (as it had been pulled and tugged every which way while fucking), just stroking her head as he spoke softly. "I think that covered your tab more than enough; but what do you say, my dear?"

The attention was nice. The guy wasn't babying her, but was still being awfully sweet. Ebony moved from under the bartender and faced him, both of them lying in an uncomfortable position on the table but not caring. She smiled shyly and placed a hand on Grillby's chest.

"I think... that tab probably needs to stay open."

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Oh goodness, here I am just sinning at work while on break. *she blushes intensely*_**

 ** _Anyways, this is the first time I've written something like this WITHOUT feeling entirely embarrassed about it! Man, life sure does change a person. The sex pushed this chapter past my usual limits, but I think that's not such a bad thing. It was interesting imagining a fire monster fucking the living daylights out of my little Ebony. :)_**

 ** _I have to get back to work, so please enjoy! Have a fantastic day, and never stop sinning. ;D_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	6. Bonding Time

**Chapter 6: Bonding Time**

She awoke from a peaceful slumber this time. No night terrors; thank the gods. Ebony lifted her head slightly and examined her surroundings, eyes half open with the sands of sleep. It wasn't until she saw her desk in the corner that she recognized the area as her own room. She began to recall the events that had happened... yesterday already, was it? It was hard to tell when you lived Underground.

Her head plopped back onto the fluffy pillow beneath her as she sighed, then sat up suddenly and looked down at herself. Wait...

She was in bed with her pajamas on. That would have been fine, if sex wasn't the last thing she remembered doing. She didn't recall making it home by herself, either. Too lazy to move from where she sat, her eyes scanned the room slowly until she spotted her clothes folded neatly at the edge of her bed.

They looked neatly folded, as if they had been cleaned and pressed. Crawling reluctantly out of her comfortable spot, Ebony grabbed her clothing and began to dress herself. She pulled on her pants first, as she could accomplish that while lying on her back. Then she closed her eyes as she pulled on her long sleeved shirt, catching the soothing scent of cinnamon. So Grillby really _did_ clean her stuff. He must have cleaned up in the bar as well.

 _Well, it's been real_ , thought the girl as she scratched her head and stumbled sleepily out of the room. She glanced over at the door next to hers and wondered if her roomie was home. Her thoughts were answered when she found her roommate focusing on cutting a tomato... properly.

"Good morning, Undyne," Ebony said, cocking her head to one side as she watched the fish woman. The creature was wearing baggy pajamas with a cute fish-print on it and stood with feet bare in the kitchen.

"Shit-" Undyne looked a little too focused, her eye twitching at the tomato under her knife. She pulled away from the tomato long enough to look up at Ebony and grin like an idiot. "Oh. Hey, punk. Had a good night's sleep~?"

"Eh? Er, yeah. I did. Why do you ask?"

"Grillby carried you home."

 _Fuck._

Undyne's eyebrows waggled in her best imitation at being suggestive (though really, she failed and just looked remarkably silly) as she sidled over comically and jabbed roughly at Ebony's side. " _SOOOO...?"_

"... 'Soooo' nothing." Ebony shrugged off the elbow action and strode over to the counter, taking over the task of cutting up the tomato. However, her concentration was not exactly there, and she stood there frozen while wielding the knife. Her face was beet red, and even Undyne couldn't let that go unnoticed.

"Ebb, you can't hide SHIT from me when your face is as red as that tomato!"

"Nothing happened, Undyne."

"Am I gonna have to fucking noogie the answer out of you, you nerd?!" The scaly creature pulled Ebony into a chokehold and began to press her knuckles against the top of her roommate's head, all revved up and ready to give a passion-filled noogie. Ebony freaked out and quickly let the knife clatter back onto the counter before it hurt anyone. Undyne wasn't exactly the best at safety. "TELL ME!"

Struggling against the monster's impossible grip, Ebony gasped out a surrender and repeatedly smacked the offending arm. "God dammit, Undyne-"

Undyne grinned and narrowed her eyes. "Ebb, did you and Grillby boink?"

"What?"

"Y'know. _Did you. . . DO THE WOP_?"

"Undyne, what the hell? I don't understand what you're trying to say here!"

 _"_ _ **DID YOU TWO FRICK**_ _?!"_

Oh. That had flicked on a dim lightbulb in the brown haired girl's brain, and caused her cheeks to burn intensely as a result. Undyne barked a laugh and roughly pat her roomie's head, releasing the poor girl from the death grip. "That's all you had to say."

"I... I didn't even say anything-" Ebony held the back of her hand up to her face in an attempt to hide her blush, but to no avail. There was no excuse to be given, after all.

"Nah, but your face sure said it all! You're such a weenie sometimes; you should just tell me these things, you dork... It's not like I'm gonna _tease you_ about it or anything." Undyne was grinning from fin to fin as she turned her attention back to the tomato. It took less than a second of the woman attempting to cut the thing before she just smashed it into the countertop with the palm of her hand, letting out an irritated " _ **NG**_ _ **AHHHHHHH CUT ALREADY-!**_ "

Tomato pulp flew everywhere, including right onto Ebony's face. Undyne laughed sheepishly and gave a lousy excuse, saying, "Yeah, that tomato... Slippery fucker! Fuhuhuhu. . ."

The young girl flicked the fruity flesh off of her face, staring at the mess before her.

Yeah... Her roommate was pretty quick to anger. Though, Ebony knew she couldn't say anything when it came to 'anger issues.' Sometimes her anger got the best of her as well.

Taking one of the towels that she had bought to hang on the drawer handles, Ebony began to clean up the mess. Occasionally she ran the fabric under the water in the sink to rinse off the tomato juices, and soon the kitchen was clean again.

"Y'know, I can make us breakfast if you want. Let's, uh, _maybe_ not smash up any more of our tomatoes." She laughed a little and turned to face her roomie while folding up the dish towel.

"Hey, Ebb..." Undyne suddenly looked and sounded hesitant as she picked at some imaginary lint on her tanktop.

Ebony blinked her green eyes and gazed up at Undyne. How bizarre, since the fish woman was normally extremely obnoxious and noisy. What was up with the fish lady anyway?

"You... came from the Surface, yeah? So I was wondering: Before I uh, tried killing you and all that..." Undyne looked a little guilty as she said that, so she paused awkwardly for a second and then continued. "What kind of life did you have before you got here?"

It was surprising to hear the captain of the Royal Guard taking an interest in a human's life story, especially since this _was_ the same human she tried to murder a good year ago. It was Ebony's turn to pause and as she thought about it, her fingertips flew up to her collarbone and she began tapping away at it. It had always been a strange habit of hers, something that she personally felt gave her the energy to focus and think. Was this something she should tell monsters down here? Would any of them even care? Undyne was actually showing interest, or concern, or whatever it was... Maybe it was even just pure curiosity.

When Ebony had first fallen two years ago, she had wandered over to a fancy hotel but didn't have the currency that monsters used Underground. Soon after, she shacked up with two creatures named Bratty and Catty in the dumps just outside of the hotel. She didn't have much of a choice in the matter, and had to put up with the _irritating_ way the other two always spoke. The monsters also fangirled frequently over some 'Mettaton' person, who was apparently a big star Underground. The young girl had standards, however, and the dumps were just not meeting those standards.

Then along came Undyne. Seeing a human for the first time in what seemed like ages, the captain of the Royal Guard was so dead-set on catching and killing Ebony. So Sans' comment the other day about Papyrus and the Royal Guard had caught the girl's attention. It was funny how things worked out, but eventually Ebony had been able to talk the crazy fish woman into calming down... and now they were rooming together in Waterfall.

Well, Ebony supposed it wouldn't hurt to talk about this with at least her roommate.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Helloooo every reader! :)_**

 ** _I'm sitting at my family's house and typing to get some thoughts off my chest... And the new year is beginning in one more hour here, since I live in Hawai'i. To those of you who have already hit 2016... HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D_**

 ** _I've gone through a lot this past year, but I think starting up with writing fanfics again is a decision I do not regret one bit! I appreciate all the time people took to read my fanfiction. I can only ask that you please continue to support me as the new year begins for all of us. Take care of yourselves, and I'll see you guys at the next chapter. ;3_**

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	7. Determination

**Chapter 7: Determination.**

Ebony motioned for Undyne to follow, and the both of them sat at the table. There were now two chairs instead of one since Ebony bought one for herself after moving in. For the most part, the girl tried to keep Undyne's house the same way it was before actually moving in. It was more due to the constant nagging in the back of her mind that living there would only be temporary. Undyne had insisted that the human just buy whatever they wanted for the house, but Ebony stubbornly refused.

The girl found work with the Nice Cream Guy after moving in with Undyne, just selling Nice Cream at several locations. It didn't net a lot of cash, so she also asked the lady at Snowdin Shop for a job. Underground was definitely not as busy with customers, no matter where you might go. However, a job was a job. While working at the shop, she merely swept the floors and maintained the inventory count. The shop owner let the girl keep a Manly Bandanna as payment the first time around, so sometimes she liked to use it to keep her hair back while working. The abs that had been drawn on the bandanna were only a minor embarrassment.

In the end, Ebony saved up enough to only ever purchase what was necessary for the house. Some pots, pans, dish towels, chairs, and a bench for the lonely piano. The only relatively huge purchase Ebony had made was an urgent need for a human: An addition to the house, that being a small bathroom. It had taken a while, but melting hot baths/showers were definitely worth it. Undyne preferred to sit in the tub with cold water, but only if she felt like actually bathing.

"So... I'll start, then," Ebony said slowly, looking at Undyne for confirmation to begin. Undyne, looking as serious as ever, simply nodded and propped her chin up with her hand, yellow eyes watching. Interesting.

 _I guess there are times that even Undyne can sit still, even though it'll only be for a minute,_ thought Ebony with an amused smile. She took a deep breath and focused on her closed fists, which she had resting on the table in front of her. _Well, here goes..._

"Before living here, Underground, I lived in the city with my family... My mom, dad, and my younger brother, Brennivin. My parents weren't the best of people, though. I had a mom who abused the pills she often got prescribed. She was always depressed, always blaming Brennivin and I of 'tying her down,' and always just _freaking out_ for no reason, even though she had nowhere else to really go even if she didn't have us. She made some pretty shitty decisions and died of a bad over-dosage. We had no money, so we couldn't afford a funeral." Ebony's face contorted, the perfect image of disgust reflecting in her eyes from the simple act of remembering her parents. "My dad was an asshole; nothing more, nothing less. My brother and I were too young and too stupid to understand back then, but our dad left us when mom was still alive because she was always drugged up. He might have left for good reason on his part, but the fact that he ditched his kids... I can never forgive him for that. We have family, distant relatives, but they weren't worth pursuing for help. It's not like they wanted us, anyways. So Brenn and I had to get by ourselves, and it's just all..."

"That's just messed up."

Ebony looked over at Undyne, whose eyebrows were furrowed as the scaly monster finished the thought and began clenching and unclenching her fists, then repeated herself. "That's just... _messed up._ How could they do that to you guys when you were still kids?"

Ebony gave a half-hearted shrug and tugged at a lock of her hair, her mossy green eyes downcast. She heard that question often. It bothered her at first, but she had learned to deal with it. "They were just really selfish people. Humans are fucked up like that."

"How old were you when that happened? How old are you _now_? How did you even survive?!" Undyne's hand smacked the table, voice slowly growing in volume, and Ebony jumped at the noise. The interrogation was to be expected, the girl supposed.

"I'm 20; almost 21 in a couple of months. Just uh, take a deep breath and calm yourself for a second." Ebony laughed weakly, but Undyne wasn't having any of it.

"But... How can you tell _ME_ to calm down? _Shouldn't *you* be more mad than I am?!_ _ **THEY DITCHED YOU TWO**_ _!"_

"I'm mad, for sure. There'll always be a boiling anger in me for my parents and all their fuckery. But I'm asking that you calm down because it's not a big deal to me any more. _I could give less of a damn about them."_ The brown haired girl answered flatly and opened her fists, staring at the visible fingernail marks left in the palms of her hands. "They _did_ do a lot of harm to their own children because they wanted to do their own thing. I know. By the time Brennivin and I lost both our parents, I was 15 and he was 12. I had to look after him often, but it wasn't any different from when our mom and dad were still alive since I was already taking care of him even back then."

Undyne shut her mouth at that, but still sat tensely, her face red with anger over her friend's dilemma. She looked over when Ebony murmured, "My brother was my life; the happiest boy I knew, despite all the shit we went through together. He was the reason I pushed myself so much to make a living for us, even though I was still a minor. Some people let me work because they felt bad about our situation. I don't take advantage of that pity often, nor do I feel good about doing it, but it got us by. But here's... where it gets difficult."

"A year later, Brennivin got hit by a car. I had just finished one of my part time jobs and was _supposed_ to meet him at the nearby park since he was _supposed_ to finish his piano lesson for the day. I was paying for the lessons because he wanted to learn so _badly,_ and I really wanted to do what I could to make him happy. He never asked for much, that kid."

Ebony placed one hand over the other as she grew somber, her gaze turning cold. "But anyways, some ignorant * _fucker*_ ran a red light when Brenn was still in the middle of crossing the intersection and... The... The injuries weren't horrible, but the doctors said there may have been some brain damage. Then we found out he fell into a coma, maybe because of the trauma his body went through with the accident, and he's been stuck in this... this fucking _ETERNAL_ sleep ever since, and-" Ebony's pupils dilated from imagining her brother still stuck in that hospital room and her throat closed up abruptly. It wasn't easy to talk about. She pursed her lips shut and swallowed hard. Undyne could think of nothing else to do but pat Ebony's back while the girl silently let tears drip.

However, it wasn't long before Ebony took a slow, deep breath. "I went fucking _NUTS_ for a couple of years. I ran everywhere looking for a cure... some way to wake him up so I can just see him up and about again, playing on the piano or whatever-fucking-else. The hospital bill kept on escalating at an alarming rate, and it terrified me to see myself go into debt at such a young age, but if it kept Brenn alive then fuck it. I don't even know what had actually happened, but I ran up that damned mountain thinking maybe some herb or god-knows-what could possibly help... And then I fell forever and a day before surviving and landing in a crapload of garbage. I've been stuck down here for two years now."

Undyne plopped a hand on the girl's head and forced the human to look the fish woman in the eye. It was relatively difficult to look at Undyne with a serious face while she wore those cute fish pajamas. Ebony thought she felt her neck crick uncomfortably, but didn't utter a sound. Finally, Undyne spoke rather decisively. "I'm gonna do it."

"Wha-?" Ebony blinked in confusion.

Undyne had tears in her eyes as she flashed the biggest grin Ebony had ever seen, pointy teeth and all. _"I'M GONNA HELP YOU. And I'm gonna get everyone else to help, too!"_

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _And now, Chapter 7 is done! Man, us writers sure like to cause our OC babies all that pain and suffering, huh? I'M SORRY, EBONY. Maybe you'll get the sexy times in a future chapter or somethin' to make up for Mother's cruelty. :(_**

 ** _Anyways, I hope everyone enjoyed the beginning of their new year. I had to work today, but I got a warm Toffee-doodle cookie from Starbucks for $1 today and BOY HOWDY DID THAT MAKE MY DAY BETTER! :3_**

 ** _It makes me so happy to see that more people are reading my chapters than I had expected; thank you so much! You guys are awesome. Take care of yourselves, and I'll see you guys at the next chapter! :'D_**

 ** _-LostInnocenz_**


	8. Surprises

**Chapter 8: Surprises**

"I'm surprised you sat still for majority of my story," Ebony stated with a short laugh. "I could tell you wanted to break shit."

"Yeah well, that was only a one-time thing!" Undyne's face pinched into a frown as she added, "I really hate sitting in one place, but you would've hated me for interrupting."

A dull vibrating sound went off, causing Undyne to stop and she reached into the pocket of her pajama pants for her phone. She pulled it out and stared at the screen. Her eye twitched and just as she was about to chuck the phone into the nearest wall, Ebony swiftly reached out and saved the electronic device from the fish girl's violent hands. The short haired girl was pretty sure Undyne broke a good dozen phones or so in the past year already like that. She would really have to find the toughest phone case known to man for the monster.

"THAT GUY AND HIS STUPID PUNS-"

Puns? There was only one person Ebony knew who loved stupid puns. She glanced down at the phone's touch screen and immediately cringed. She could see why Undyne wanted to flip shit.

\- **Sans: hey undyne.**

\- **Sans: bet you had to really** _ **fish**_ **for your phone, huh?**

 _"Tell him to STAHHHHP."_

Ebony looked at Undyne and then tapped away at the phone with a grin. Undyne wouldn't be so pleased to see that her friend complied quite literally.

\- **Undyne: STAHHHHP**

\- **Sans: nah, you know i can't do that. :)**

 **\- Sans: you got a second to talk?**

Ebony eyed the last text curiously and then looked up at Undyne again. "Uhm, I think Sans wants to talk with you."

" _What?!_ Gimme that!" the blue-scaled woman snatched the phone from Ebony and dialed up the skeleton, holding the phone up to speak.

"'Sup?" Ebony could hear Sans' low voice through the phone from where she stood.

"The hell do you want, Sans? I was busy, er-bonding," said Undyne, peeking over at Ebony. There would be no mention of Ebony's situation to anyone else... yet. At least not until the girl was comfortable enough to talk about it with other people.

"Have you seen a human runnin' around? Been tryin' to find her, but it takes a little too much effort to walk."

"Yeah, she's been around."

"In Waterfall?"

Undyne froze and looked out of one of her windows. "How the heck do you-"

"Oh. I just thought I'd pay you a visit," said Sans nonchalantly. A knock sounded at the front door, and Ebony's eyes darted over to the entrance. Irritated already, Undyne stalked over and almost pulled the door off its hinges, revealing the ever-casual punster in his usual ridiculous get-up.

The skeleton frowned a little at the sudden reveal, but it only lasted a millisecond before he smiled with a shrug and pocketed his flip phone. Ebony assumed he had a flip phone because he had no skin to actually use a touch screen. The thought was kind of amusing, and she wondered how he'd have reacted if he ever had a touch screen phone to deal with in the past. "You know, you're supposed to answer with 'Who's there?' or something of that caliber. S'okay. I _bait_ it was 'cause you couldn't wait to see me."

" _ **SANS-**_ " Undyne's hand tightened considerably around the phone, and...

Ebony sighed and slapped her hand to her own face. There went the phone she just saved a moment ago. God damn.

"Hey there, Ebony." Sans greeted the girl with a wave, his free hand in his pocket. Ebony hesitantly waved back, still feeling a little awkward since their last conversation.

"Sans. What do you want? Why're you even in Waterfall? If it was such an effort to walk, then how'd you even get here?! How do you know Ebb?" Undyne interrogated the skeleton while tying up her long, fiery red hair. Her face was still filled with irritation, and the remains of the phone were scattered sadly on the kitchen floor. Regardless, she stepped out of the way to let the skelebro inside.

"We met at Grillbz' place the other day." Sans took a step in the house and completely ignored the other questions. He motioned in the direction of the brown haired girl, who in turn simply stood rooted to the ground as he continued. "I need to talk to her."

Ebony's stomach did a flip at that, but she nodded and finally trudged to her room. She had no idea what it was he wanted to say, but standing anywhere else to talk, let alone in front of Undyne, would just feel weird. Sans followed suit, leaving Undyne to gawk at the two with wide eyes while blinking stupidly. " _What... YOU BONEHEAD, I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU HAD TO TALK TO_ _ **ME**_ _-"_

The skeleton shut the room door behind him, cutting off the captain's sentence. Then he automatically made himself comfortable and sat on Ebony's bed, happily patting the spot next to him and saying, "Go on. Make yourself comfortable."

He was speaking as if it were _his_ room. What a weirdo. The girl raised one eyebrow and cautiously sat on her bed just a little further from Sans, staring at him all the while.

"C'mon girl, lighten up a bit. You look like you've seen a ghost," snickered Sans as he faced Ebony. That smile... It still got to her. How was he always smiling?

"Why... How did you know I lived here?" Ebony's face showed major concern as she asked that, her hands placed properly in her lap. She bit the inside of her cheek again, nervous about why exactly Sans came to the house. He wasn't there to... to _finish the business,_ was he? She wasn't going to die, was she? Ebony didn't recall saying any other swear words while around him, nor did she recall doing anything else to upset the skelebro.

"I asked Paps. Turns out he was fully aware that a human was living with the captain of the Royal Guard, and I had to assume it was you. Haven't seen any humans other than you and Frisk, and they're living with Tori 'n Asgore in the Ruins." Sans waved a hand dismissively, then proceeded to dig around in the pocket of his black and white basketball shorts for something.

 _Frisk? Tori? Asgore? Who the heck are they? What're the 'Ruins'?_ Ebony's head began to fill with curiosity about all the new names and she was not paying attention to what Sans was pulling out of his pocket.

"Ah, I just wanted to apologize."

The girl's green eyes widened with surprise after hearing those words, but what surprised her the most was what Sans had in his hand. "That's..."

"Yeah, you sorta left it after running out." Sans' eyes glanced at the fabric in his hand as he held it out to the girl. "I didn't wanna be a total butt, and I could tell it was getting pretty _bonely_ without you, so I found Woshua and had 'im clean this up."

"My scarf..." Ebony's eyes watered and she reached a shaky hand out to take the beige scarf. She didn't even know what a _Woshua_ was, but all she could think about was the scarf itself. It was an old piece of crap, and some of the fabric was showing obvious signs of wear by fraying, but it was special, and it was hers.

"Oh... Oh geez... Kid, don't cry, I swear I didn't damage the thing-" Sans immediately panicked when the girl began to tear up. His other bony hand flew up and he was going to comfort her, but Ebony's arms flew around the monster's bony neck and she hugged him tightly with droplets of tears at the corners of her eyes.

"I totally forgot about it, and you came all the way here to give it back to me... You even cleaned it up," Ebony was overcome with emotion as she hiccuped and sobbed, burying her face into Sans' jacket at his shoulder. "God, that scarf is _everything_ to me. My brother picked it out for me years ago... It was with my money since I was the one with the jobs, but I let him pick something for me. I was afraid I'd lose it down here. Thank you. _Thank you_."

Sans was taken aback from the hug, sure, but what made him blush was the warm kiss Ebony planted on his cool, weathered cheekbone. When she asked him what else he needed to talk about, he awkwardly told the girl he couldn't remember and excused himself out of the house. Undyne watched with narrowed eye as Sans left, but when she asked Ebony what had happened, Ebony insisted everything was fine. The girl was all smiles and while she was in her pajamas, she had the scarf wrapped around her neck.

The skeleton was so distracted that he actually _walked_ slowly back to Snowdin with a hand held up to his cheekbone, his face still tinged a light blue. He wasn't expecting any of... _that_. What was that?

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Yayyyyy I love Sans. c:_**

 ** _Goofiness, bad-assery, and a sweetie all in one. . / / /._**

 ** _Anyways, this chapter feels relatively short but we'll see what happens in the next one. I like messing with the characters, ufufufu. = w=_**

 ** _If there are any requests, or ideas, please feel free to shoot me a message so I can brainstorm over it all! :) I love you guys! Thank you for all the reviews, and I look forward to seeing many more! BACK TO WORK NAO. See you at the next chapter~_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	9. It's All In the Compliments

**Chapter 9: It's All In the Compliments**

With a sigh, Sans tilted himself back in his chair behind one of the many sentry stations that he had responsibility for. This one was in Snowdin. His jobs were so hard to keep up with. Sitting and watching passersby could get pretty tough. One of them might actually _look_ at him, after all, and then he'd have to shoot a _smile_ their way. Yeah, it was a pret-ty difficult job because of all the effort necessary to man the station. But the skelebro also had other things on his mind: Once he had gotten home a few nights ago, he finally remembered what he wanted to talk about with the human.

Her brother. The one Ebony mentioned a couple times before rushing from the house. Sans had missed the actual opportunity to bring the topic up when and where he had planned on, but wasn't sure whether it would be weird to ask after the whole kiss-on-the-cheekbone thing. Sans' hands flew up to his head and he scratched his head in mild frustration. Why was this whole thing bothering him, anyway? He had just threatened her the other day, and he could have cared less about the human's situation back then. It was probably the kiss; it _had_ to be. It's not like he got affection like that every day, so it just threw him off.

But then again, why did he even seek out a river to clean the scarf and then look for Ebony to begin with? Sans had gotten so flustered and ended up telling the girl that Woshua cleaned it up for her instead. He was doing things that didn't even make sense to himself.

"SANS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Whoa-" The familiar voice had piped in so abruptly that Sans jumped in his seat and fell backward, the thick snow cushioning his skull. He glimpsed up and smiled as he caught sight of his little brother, who had gloved hands on bony hips. "Hey, Paps. What's up?"

"WHY WERE YOU MASSAGING YOUR HEAD? DO YOU HAVE A HEADACHE?" Papyrus towered over his older brother and blinked. He stood Sans back up with ease and picked up the chair. "I HAVE THE PERFECT CURE FOR HEADACHES LIKE THAT!"

"Can I go a- _head_ and guess what the cure is?" Wow. That wasn't even the best pun he could have made. Sans cursed his distracted mind.

Missing the pun this time around, Paps folded his arms and looked skeptical, replying, "GO ON, I SUPPOSE YOU CAN. YOU WON'T EVER GUESS CORRECTLY, THOUGH! IT'S A TRICKY ONE."

"Oh geez, it's probably gonna be way off the mark, but... Is the answer 'spaghetti'?"

Papyrus gasped delightedly and took a step forward. "HOW DID YOU KNOW?! YES, BROTHER; SPAGHETTI IS THE CURE TO _EVERYTHING_!"

Sans shrugged and smiled. "It was just a shot in the dark. You always know what's best, Paps."

The younger skelebro recovered quickly and coughed into his glove, a big grin plastered onto his face at the compliment. "WELL YES, THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS ALL! ANYONE WHO DOESN'T KNOW THAT I KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOWING ALL IS JUST A BIG **BONE** HEAD!"

"Good one, bro." Sans had heard that pun many times already, and even used it himself often, but he looked extremely impressed for his little brother's sake. The two brothers were always pretty good about each other's feelings, especially where it counted most. Like this obscene pride in spaghetti that Papyrus had. It was the only thing the monster could make decently thanks to Undyne, so he prided himself in its brilliant creation quite often.

"I KNOW. THANK YOU!" Papyrus looked pretty pleased with himself for being clever again. If he had a tail, he'd most assuredly be wagging it with happiness at that exact moment.

Sans lazily stood by Papyrus, allowing a lull in the conversation for some unspeakable reason. It was one of those weird 'comfortable silence' moments. Then, finally:

"So, uh, Paps. W _ater_ you _dew_ -ing here?"

Papyrus understood the pun this time and he scrunched up his face, looking entirely comical. " **SANS** , WHY ARE YOU SO INSISTENT WITH YOUR PUNS BUT YOUR **PUZZLES** LACK THAT CLASSIC EFFORT TO BE JUST AS FABULOUS AND WELL THOUGHT-OUT?!"

 _'Fabulous.'_ The lanky skeleton must have gotten that from Metta. Sans suppressed a grimace and his gaze wandered aimlessly to the side. Well, he did call his older brother's puns fabulous as well, if that were the case. His puns weren't exactly 'well' thought-out; they really always spewed from his mouth like nothing, even though there were some times he could get highly distracted and forget about the good puns. It was just... the idea of Mettaton's habits rubbing onto Paps that made Sans' skin crawl.

Figuratively speaking, anyway. "Meh. That's 'cause your puzzles are genius, Pap. I think my puzzling skills are a little _washed up_ compared to yours."

The soon-to-be Royal Guard preened himself on having been complimented not once, but _twice_. He was, after all, a darned good master at puzzles. Eventually, he snapped out of it and remembered what it was he meant to bring up to his elder brother. "OH! RIGHT - THE COMPLIMENTS ARE WONDERFUL, BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT I CAME FOR! I CAME TO ASK WHETHER YOU WERE ABLE TO FIND THE HUMAN. THE ER, **OTHER** HUMAN. NOT FRISK. THE... GIRL-ONE. WAS SHE WITH UNDYNE?"

"Oh. Uh." Sans' face blanked out only for a moment, as he was caught unawares by the inquiry. And, ohh, there went his damned thoughts again as his brain flicked to the memory of Ebony hugging him and kissing his cheek. "Yeah, she was. I uh, had to give her something the other day."

"AH! YOU STILL NEED TO GIVE IT TO HER? SANS, YOU LAZYBONES! WE NEED TO GET IT TO HER RIGHT THIS INSTANT! YOU DON'T MAKE A LADY WAIT!" And with that, Papyrus hoisted Sans up onto his skinny shoulderbones without a second thought and made way for Waterfall. In the meantime, he dialed up Undyne and had a chat about the cooking lesson that was to be done today. Paps apparently had a new recipe to try, thanks to Mettaton.

Thought after thought after _thought_ flooded Sans' mind as he was practically forced to come along for the ride to see the human. He didn't finish his sentence, but he had already given the scarf to Ebony... _Now_ what was he going to say when seeing her? Sans propped his bony elbows against Papyrus' head. Paps paid no mind to the movement as he chattered away on the phone, all the while jogging steadily to Undyne's fishy house.

Sans was too lazy to fight back and protest, and besides, he didn't want to fight his own brother just to get away from seeing the green eyed human, anyway. It was way too much effort. Looked like he was going to be in for a long ride. His job could wait.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _I swear, when I listen to "It's Raining Somewhere Else," I'm only ever typing it during a serious feels part or when I'm typing stuff regarding Grillby's bar/restaurant. It's extremely relaxing to listen to.  
_**

 ** _And then I listen to "All American Bad-Ass" from LISA the Joyful, and it's just one of those super gnarly songs that I secretly connect to Sans, if he were to come strolling up all bad-ass-like with a shit ton of Gaster Blasters following suit. I actually really LOVE that now (gotta be careful how I give out some "LOOOOOVE," hehe), and might try to draw that sometime. xD_**

 ** _OKAY, enough with me being super nerdy... I have work yet again tomorrow, and I worked today from 5am until 10pm... One job after the other... So I am freaking tired! Enjoy your nights (or mornings; wherever you're at!) and take care! Thank you for the amusing reviews, everyone. It makes my day to see a nice review, because I know it takes time out of your own life to leave me that review. I will never turn down a word of support while I'm writing this as-I-go story! :D_**

 ** _Until the next chapter, loves. :)_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**

 _P.S.: I really wanted to write this short interaction with Sans and Paps because I think they're adorable, and ARE SKELETONS ALLOWED TO BE ADORABLE WTF-_


	10. Lesson Learned?

**Chapter 10: Lesson Learned?**

"There's only one way you can go back to the Surface, and that's by going through the castle. But in order to get to the castle, you need to go through the CORE." Undyne was scratching a drawing into the Torn Notebook that Ebony had bought from old man Gerson around the corner. Well, Gerson was a turtle, to be exact. Ebony didn't really like going to see him because all he did was talk about his past, and she didn't really have time to sit for stuff like that. Undyne was the total opposite in that regard. She loved hearing Gerson's stories, and could sit for hours just listening to the tales of a former hero.

Undyne's doodle in the notebook looked like a crude map of some sort, and if it hadn't been explained to Ebony beforehand, the girl would have been staring at the page trying to decode it for days.

Ebony's hand reached up to adjust the scarf around her neck. It quickly became a frequent habit after getting the thing back, as she was afraid of losing it again. She was glad to have her old, tattered scarf back. She considered it her 'security blanket.' Thank goodness Sans had remembered to return it in the first place.

 _Sans_.

The girl's cheeks heated up and she lifted the scarf further up her neck to disguise her face from any curious eyes. Undyne didn't look up from the notebook, too fully engrossed in drawing the childish-looking map for her friend as she mumbled to herself.

Just thinking about the name made Ebony blush. She didn't _have_ to kiss the skeleton's cheekbone, nor did she have to even hug him, but had gotten so caught up in the moment that she didn't think twice about doing it at the time. Now, looking back at it, she knew she felt her heart flutter during the event. Her heart was doing crazy shit now just thinking about it.

What about Grillby? Ebony had to consider the flame monster. However... Was it more a physical attraction? He was alluring in his own way, and hot in more ways than one. Thinking about Grillby mostly made her blush, mainly because she ended up thinking about his body. And holy _crap_ , that cock of his was amazing. Maybe she had more of a carnal need with him, as the girl was sure that was the case on his end. The bartender did have many tabs with a variety of monsters Underground. He could be considered... A classy hooker. He didn't openly state that his 'tabs' usually meant 'sex,' but only discreetly extended the offer to select people. Thinking of Grillby like that made Ebony laugh a little on the inside. 'Classy hooker' actually didn't sound so gross.

Sans was not attractive in the same way that Grillby was, mostly in the sense that he was all bones and almost the same height as she was. But his personality was what got her. He could be scary, yes, but the girl could be just as scary when she would get mad. But he had taken the time to give the scarf back, even though his laziness could have easily prevented him from even leaving the house. And it's when he laughed with all that contagious snorting and chuckling. When he was not just _grinning_ all the time, due to lack of lips, but when he legitimately smiled. Ebony could feel it whenever he could prank someone good or if he spit out a good pun. It was cute. _He_ was cute.

 _That_ was what she liked.

" _EBONY_."

Ebony blinked, coming back down from the clouds, and looked up at her roomie. Undyne was staring at her strangely. "Undyne, what the heck're you looking at?"

"Well, you're not even paying attention to what I'm saying, are you?!" The fish lady was irritated, but then she suddenly grinned. "... It's your face I'm looking at right now."

"What - Sorry, I'll pay attention. ... Wait. What do you mean by that? Why're you looking at my face?"

"You're smiling like a complete _idiot_ right now," Undyne's other eye was covered with her usual black eyepatch, but Ebony could see the available eye narrow mischievously as a tiny smile crossed the fish girl's face. "Ebb~ Who are you thinking about right now? You don't look like that whenever you talk about Grillby..."

Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. Both girls' heads turned automatically in the direction of the noise, attention taken away from the question as well as the map on the dining table. Ebony was grateful for that knock. A loud voice was talking with another person outside. The brown-haired girl recognized the second voice. She got up immediately and inched slowly toward the back door so she could make it to her room, but then Undyne got up and opened the door.

Fuck. Of course she would open the door right away. Why was the fish lady such a good host? For once, Ebony wished Undyne was a little less hospitable.

"HELLO, UNDYNE! I AM HERE FOR OUR PRIVATE, ONE-ON-ONE LESSON! AND I BROUGHT SANS WITH ME TO SEE THE HUMAN!" It was Papyrus, for sure. He noticed Ebony and waved his arm excitedly, a silly smile on his face. "OH, HELLO HUMAN!"

"Papyrus, you do know that when you say 'private' and 'one-on-one,' that no longer applies in your case? _You're always bringing someone,_ " Undyne said through a forced smile and gritted teeth. The skeleton was so weird... most of the time. But it was fine. It was kind of Papyrus' charm anyway. He was ever the friendly, bubbly guy. That's what made him so lovable.

Ebony waved quickly and tried to dart the rest of the way to her room, but felt herself stop in her tracks against her own will. Looking down at herself, there was a blue aura all around her, almost like a strange membrane, and she panicked inwardly.

"Hey, you," Sans greeted Ebony with a grin. He and Papyrus had stepped inside, and Undyne was shutting the door. Sans had an arm up, his hand covered in blue magic. Ebony's eyes locked with the skeleton's as she felt herself get turned around. "You tryin' to Flee from us or what? You're hurtin' my feelings here."

The girl was dragged closer, still floating in the air, but not too high up. Sans was being extra careful with her. Ebony was soon set down and she found herself standing next to Undyne with wide green eyes. She didn't mind heights much, but had decided that floating and not actually falling was _the_ weirdest feeling.

"Er... Sorry for freakin' you out with that. Reflex thing, when an enemy starts runnin' off. AH, not saying you're an enemy. 'Cause I like you. I mean. I didn't mean that. Uh..." The skelebro smiled awkwardly but quickly raised the back of his hand to his face in an attempt to hide a hint of that blue-ish blush spreading across his cheeks.

Undyne raised an eyebrow and eyeballed the two carefully. Papyrus was scratching his head and shrugged, then decided to go and check out the fridge. Paps couldn't really see why everyone stopped talking, but Ebony could practically see a square trying to fit through a circle in Undyne's head as she stared at the pair before her.

Ebony's arms flew up in the air as she exclaimed, " _OH! Don't you have a... cooking thing with Pap right now?_ Can't forget that, no; it wouldn't do to miss another lesson! I'm gonna go over, uhm... Yeah-" She ran off to the bathroom in the hall and slammed the door. Sans didn't stop her this time, but hesitated before he slowly walked to the door connecting to the hallway where both rooms were located without saying a word.

When the door clicked shut, Undyne stood in silence until Papyrus whined, "UNDYNE! THE HUMAN IS RIGHT; WE CAN'T MISS ANOTHER LESSON! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT IF I AM TO BE IN THE ROYAL GUARD. WE ALREADY HAD TO SKIP THE LAST ONE BECAUSE YOU SPENT TIME WITH THE HUMAN INSTEAD!"

"Uh... Right." Undyne shook her head, coming back to her senses as she faced the other skeleton. She bunched up imaginary sleeves on both arms, ready to get to business. " _Let's get cookin'!_ "

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Annnnnd another chapter done! Yay. c:_**

 ** _I work in 13 minutes at my second job. I think I'm killing myself with the lack of sleep here. xD_**

 ** _Everyone's been going through so much lately, and I can't help but feel for them. :(_**

 ** _Huge shout-out to WickedScribbles, who's going through a particularly difficult time right now. Everybody please keep her in your thoughts. ^_^ Also, another shout-out to Just 2 Dream of You! Your many reviews are adorable. Hehe. :) Angel Of Randomosity, Awesomenesss-sama, Shadefeather682, and Shion, thank you for your reviews and your love as well...!_**

 ** _Please take care, and I'll see you at the next chapter!_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	11. Accidents Happen

**Chapter 11: Accidents Happen**

When Sans shut the door behind him, he glanced down the hallway. Right in front of him was Ebony's room, and then there were two more doors. Figuring that the girl ran right into her room, the skeleton raised a bony hand to knock but then changed his mind. Was that human even in the room? Sans scratched the back of his head and peeked into the room quickly. No, she wasn't in there.

Walking to the next door, he paused before doing the same thing and opening the door to peek inside. Ebony was most definitely in this room.

She was in the _bathroom_. Top-naked.

Both skeleton and human stared at each other in utter silence. Time seemed to slow down for an eternity, at least until Ebony heard Undyne yelling for the girl. It was probably just the usual: Undyne had probably misplaced something in the kitchen and couldn't find it. Eyes widened, Ebony grabbed Sans by his coat and jerked him into the bathroom, ignoring his gasp of surprise. She shut the door as soon as Undyne opened the door that led into the hallway.

" _EBB_ , Papyrus is gonna make a cake with me! Mettaton taught him how, but we can't find the dumb whisk. Where is it?!"

Ebony could hear her room door open and close. Undyne was checking for her roomie. The girl quickly locked the bathroom door, pressing against Sans as she reached out and did so. If Sans had an actual beating heart, it would be pumping blood like crazy. In the skeleton's case, his bones rattled softly as he tried to calm his nerves and keep as still as possible. His head was spinning. The human was so _warm,_ and she was practically naked already. . .

"Uhhh, y-you need to look in the bone drawer!" Ebony called out, putting her ear against the door to listen. She bit her lip and saw the doorknob shake from Undyne trying to open the bathroom door. Sans looked up at the girl and saw the expression of horror on her face at the thought of Undyne catching them. "You, uhm... put it there last with the other things you never really use...!"

"Oh. Oh yeah!" Footsteps faded into the distance as Undyne yelled her thanks. Ebony thought she heard Undyne ask Papyrus where Sans went.

" _H-Holy_ _ **fuck**_ -" Sans let out a whoosh of breath, but his voice sounded muffled.

What? Did Sans just... Did he just _swear_? That was when Ebony finally became aware of the reality of her current situation. She looked down and saw that she was still pushed up against Sans from when she was trying to listen through the door for Undyne. The skelebro's chin was right in Ebony's plump breasts, his hands trembling in the air with his back still facing the door. He was trying his hardest not to touch her with any other part of his body.

This was extremely unexpected. How was he supposed to deal with this? Sans could feel his head spinning out of control. He was still a guy, after all, and though he didn't ask for that situation, he also didn't want to let the opportunity pass. Fuck.

"Shit... I wasn't thinking clearly; I was going to fucking shower, and then you opened the door and I totally panicked when I saw Undyne opening the door to the hallway just to find me..." The both of them were blushing uncontrollably as Ebony spoke quickly, but neither of them could find it in themselves to leave. Neither of them even mentioned all the open swearing, nor the fact that _Sans_ had let slip a curse word himself.

"Uh... I... Ebony," Sans stuttered as he shook against his own will. His bones rattled loudly, his emotions unchecked as the girl stood topless before him. Humans were weird with the skin-over-bones thing, but seeing Ebony half-naked... Seeing the distinct lines of her collarbone and her small frame... was perfect. He wanted to see all those lines. He wanted to explore them. It took everything in Sans' power to not take her right then and there. "It's... It's fine, I'm just gonna go-"

That self-control was admirable, but also for naught, because eventually Ebony shyly reached out and carefully lifted the skeleton's loose white t-shirt with one hand before he could turn to leave. The action was so unexpected, it silenced Sans immediately, and he gulped audibly. Ebony's mossy green eyes traveled curiously down and along every bone, and when she slowed down as she neared Sans' lower body, her carnal desires kicked in and she found herself falling back into her habit of wondering what someone looked like during sex. This here was a skeleton, after all.

 _What does *he* look like during sex?_

"Do... you wanna find out...?"

The brown haired girl didn't realize she had spoken her thoughts aloud, but she knew for sure that she did when she saw the look on Sans' face. He was staring at her, then shut his eyes as he placed one bony hand over the warm one that held fast onto his shirt. He was still trembling. The poor thing. He was pretty cute when nervous.

"Mmm, well... I was always curious about it," Ebony mused softly.

Doubt no longer lingered in the air; only the want to explore as Ebony traced the curve of every bone Sans had. When the young woman's fingers brushed his mandible and eventually landed on his scapula, Sans' breath hitched and he looked up at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes. All of it was happening so quickly, he didn't know what to do with himself. Just the girl's touch alone was driving him up the wall at that point.

He felt his hand being guided somewhere, and with head still tilted back against the door, he glanced down a little to find that Ebony was lifting his hand so it would rest on her chest. "What're you. . ."

"Just shut it and feel." Sans complied and stood for a moment, trying to blink the lust out of his eyes as Ebony still held onto his right hand, but to no avail. He felt his hand being forced up and down slightly against the girl's chest by some tiny, unspeakable force and looked back at her as she continued. "That rhythmic pulse you feel... That's my heartbeat. It's beating like a madman because I'm so nervous and excited. This is what you've been freaking doing to me for the past few days, and I've been walking around with my head in the clouds. Undyne's been questioning me persistently because she felt like something was up."

"If... If you really wanna know what's up..."

Ebony blinked as Sans began to speak. "What's up?"

With a motion of his right hand, Sans allowed some of his magic to build up in his mouth. A wisp of blue escaped from between his teeth, and he parted them to reveal a long, blue ecto-tongue. Ebony's eyes widened as she saw this happening; she wouldn't have believed it years ago if anyone tried to explain it to her. She didn't know magic could be used for that. And god _damn,_ that tongue was long. Sans rolled his tongue back into his mouth, then answered Ebony as she licked her own lips.

"I have the biggest trom _-boner_ right now." He couldn't help chuckling to himself as he answered the girl.

Ebony couldn't help laughing as Sans spit out another pun. Of course he would, even while seducing each other. "The fuck, were you waiting to have sex with someone just so you could use that? You're such a dork. You're lucky it's a musical pun."

So she liked musical puns. That was something for Sans to remember in the future.

The young girl was so busy watching Sans' mouth in awe and laughing about how silly the skelebro was that she didn't even notice he had also materialized something even better than a tongue. Ebony didn't realize until Sans took _her_ hand and tugged it over until it rested on the cock straining against the fabric of his shorts. Its tip glowed a soft blue through the basketball shorts.

"Hot damn. So skeletons down here _can_ fuck, then," Ebony murmured in wonder as the heat rose up to her cheeks. Without Sans' aid, Ebony soon fell to her knees and pulled the skeleton's pants down. Sans' cock stood at attention, and the girl wrapped a hand around it. Her hand could fully wrap around the other couple of cocks she had the _pleasure_ of touching in the past with her exes, but this was a different story. Her index and middle finger couldn't even reach around to touch the tip of her own thumb; there was a space of almost an inch between her thumb and her fingers. Holy crappola, this guy had the thickest dick yet. Ebony's breathing quickened at the thought, and she began to jerk Sans off, her hand slowly sliding up and down the length of the skelebro's cock.

Sans swallowed hard and breathed in shakily, responding strongly to the girl's touch. She needed to stop stroking him like that, and the way her fingers tightened perfectly around his shaft was just-

" _Ohhh fuck..._ Ebony _please_ stop, please before... _hhhh -_ before I cum already..."

Forget about awkward encounters in the past with the two; Ebony could only think about the here and the now, and what she wanted _now_ was that fat dick inside of her. Her hunger was beginning to show, however, as her pace quickened for a short moment, totally disregarding Sans' pleas before she decided to stop abruptly. A soft whine escaped Sans' mouth a beat later and Ebony couldn't keep herself from smirking a little. "But Sans, you wanted me to stop."

Sans felt a pleasant chill run up his spine when she saw the girl smirk. He liked seeing this dominant side of her for sure. But there was another face he wanted to see...

Another face that he _needed_ to see.

Getting down on his knees as well, Sans looked right into Ebony's eyes and asked, "Hey... You want me to fuck you?"

Ebony smiled pleasantly and Sans couldn't help blushing at that. "I thought you'd never ask, you bonehead."

"Then take off those pants and lie down here... _now_... because I want to _bone_ you s _o_ badly."

The girl snorted at that, but laid down on the cold floor, removed her pants and panties while on the ground and discarded them on the side. She then spread her legs so Sans could move between them. The skeleton couldn't wait; not with his dick so rock-hard. He leaned over and let his ecto-tongue move up Ebony's chest and her neck, leaving behind a trail of blue saliva, and pushed his fat cock all the way into the girl's pussy in one slow, forceful thrust.

Ebony's eyes widened and she uttered a long, hungry moan as Sans pierced her with his dick. She thought the sheer thickness alone would hurt her, but her body acclimated relatively easily to the size because she was so wet already. "Holy fuck, you... _ahhh_... You're so fucking _big_ -"

"Am I hurtin' you? You okay? I can, uh..." Sans paused and began to pull out, hesitating, but Ebony was having none of that. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she wordlessly pulled the skeleton toward her, a tiny hiss of pleasure escaping her lips as he filled her up all the way. This was the dick she needed in her life, and it felt damn _amazing._

With that answer, Sans soon deemed it as okay and he started thrusting steadily into the girl's soaking wet folds. The only sound that could be heard was Ebony's whimpers of pleasure, until Sans let slip a low, delicious moan. Ebony shivered and stretched her arms out for Sans to come closer. The view was perfect: Her breasts pushed together as her arms reached up for the skelebro, tears prickling the corners of her half-shut eyes as her pussy took quite a pounding. And those juicy, parted lips with the girl's tongue poking out drove Sans crazy. This face... This is what he wanted to see. He let his own tongue loll out as he could already feel himself losing his composure, and he climbed up quickly to the peak of orgasm.

"Eb... ony... _mmmnn,_ I'm already gon... gonna cum, oh god oh _god_ _holy shit, Ebony..."_

" _Ahhhgod_ Sans, please... I want - _ah_! - you to cum," Ebony panted as Sans began to pound wildly into her. As the girl wrapped her arms around his neck, she pulled him in close and kissed him, her tongue sliding along his teeth until he gave in and opened his own mouth. Maybe it was weird for Sans, and maybe it wasn't, but Ebony could give less of a fuck. She was on that natural high and wanted Sans for herself right now. Both their tongues intertwined as they kissed, and Sans gasped against Ebony's mouth as he could feel the need to release coming ever-closer. "Sans, cum in me, _please... please shoot your load into me. . ."_

 _"Oh fuck, Ebony I'm cumming, I'm_ _ **cumming**_ _\- nnnghh -"_ Sans couldn't take it anymore. He buried his face into Ebony's neck and let out a shaky moan, pushing himself as far into the girl as he could go, before releasing his hot cum into her pussy. Ebony's orgasm soon followed as she cried out for Sans, her legs tightening around his waist. His cock twitched inside of her throughout the orgasm, and he shuddered involuntarily at the sensation. Eventually he pulled out, and blue sticky cum slipped out from the girl's folds. They would have to clean that... later. Ebony held the skeleton close as the both of them rolled over and laid on their sides.

When they let their high dwindle down, Ebony scooted down until she could push her face against Sans' chest through his shirt. She felt one of his arms wrap around her waist as Sans pulled her a little closer. It felt so nice to cuddle after sex... Even though in this case, she had bones pushing against her. It was a weird feeling, but she ignored it in this case.

"Y'know, this totally threw me off, but I think I might actually like you. I never thought I'd fuck a skeleton," Ebony admitted in wonder while mumbling into the skeleton's sternum. She could no longer feel his dick pushing against her; she assumed the skeleton took it away with his crazy magic already. Sans laughed that adorably dorky laugh and ruffled the girl's short chestnut brown hair.

"Consider yourself taken to the _bone zone._ "

Ebony laughed and called Sans a nerd for pulling out puns no matter what the situation, but she still smiled and blushed.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _OH MY GOSH YES. Ebony finally got BONED. Ufufufu. c:_**

 ** _Aggggh I swear I'm so weird sometimes. I fell asleep when I was almost done with this, so when I woke up, I didn't remember typing more than half of it. I swear I didn't drink, either. o_o_**

 ** _Anyway, hello fellow readers and writers! I hope this chapter was enjoyable, because I just love when "accidents" happen~ :D I wanted the two to be CUTE already, gad dangit, and what better way than to bond in the bathroom? AHAHAHA you can shoot me. Is okay. ;xD_**

 ** _I really love and prefer noise during sex, even if it's trying to keep quiet because someone can hear. Talking to each other and communicating; that's what I feel makes the sex just as intimate. Sometimes having sex without making a sound *can* be intimate if all you're focusing on is the *feeling,* but otherwise for me, it's just booooring. ;P_**

 ** _WELP, time to work on the next chapter! :3_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	12. Discord

**Chapter 12: Discord**

It was time for the moment of truth. Ebony held her breath as she reached over to Sans. She was afraid of the outcome, but she couldn't sit in fear any longer. It had to be done, and she needed to _see_ it.

Sans' bones rattled noisily as Ebony moved closer, her eyes searching. Finally, she grinned decisively and snatched one of two cards left in the skeleton's hands. Watching the look of despair on Sans' face, Ebony flipped her card over and haughtily flashed an Ace of Spades for all to see. Then she smacked her remaining card along with the newly pulled one onto the floor in front of her. It was the last pair of the game.

"And _that_ makes you the Old Bones, Sans," Ebony stated with a hearty laugh. She had won yet again. Sans held a hand up to his face and half-assed a groan, then flipped his own card over to show the last card left: The Joker. He didn't mind losing; in fact, it was nice to see Ebony in such high spirits over a simple card game. Papyrus wanted to do some bonding, and now there they were: Paps, Sans, Ebony, and Undyne sitting on the floor in the middle of the skelebros' house and playing a good old card game called 'Old Bones.' It was really just 'Old Maid,' but the more Ebony tried to explain the rules of the game, the more confused Papyrus became for some reason. It was easier referring to the game as 'Old Bones,' and it was more for the silly skeleton to remember the flow of the game. This was, of course, the same Papyrus who did have a hard time with Junior Jumble.

"Eh, well... I _am_ pretty old for a sack o' bones, if we're gonna be real here." Sans poked his magical tongue out playfully and winked at Ebony.

"WOWIE, EBB, HOW ARE YOU SO GOOD AT THIS GAME?! IT'S REALLY LIKE YOU'RE PSYCHO OR SOMETHING!" Papyrus was in awe, truly amazed with the human for winning six times in a row. He didn't even pay attention to what he had just said. But the game always ran pretty quickly. Ebony _did_ let Papyrus win a couple of times, so he would feel good about himself for beating everyone. Sans was pretty thankful for that.

The girl's eye twitched involuntarily at that. 'Psycho'? She knew it wasn't intentional, and maybe it wasn't entirely false depending on the situation, but hearing it from someone else's mouth kind of bugged her.

Undyne stretched out her legs and crossed one over the other as she tugged irritably at her red ponytail. "Papyrus, you mean ' _PSYCHIC.'_ She's not a psycho. And don't call her 'Ebb'!" Only _she_ ever called Ebony that. It was a special name that the fish lady liked to use for her roommate; kind of like 'Ebb and Tide,' but she would _never_ confess that around Sans. That obsessive punster would probably never let her hear the end of it. It was cheesy, but Undyne secretly liked calling her friend with a nickname like that. And nobody else was allowed to use it. Or at least, that's what she assumed.

"Undyne, it's fine; Paps is a friend too," Ebony began with a laugh. Undyne looked a little crestfallen as her friend said that. Maybe they weren't on the same page after all. "As for my winning... It's a given. You guys have the _worst_ poker faces. Sans, your bones clack together and make so much noise, even when you're trying to pull a straight face on me. And Papyrus and Undyne, you have the funniest faces when someone's about to pull a card that you guys need!"

Sans had nothing to say about the statement; it was true, after all. He was no good at hiding his expression during games like that. It wasn't much effort on his part to pretend everything was fine even when a situation wasn't, as he had good practice with that over many years, but it _was_ very much an effort if it was just over a card game. He leaned back against the couch behind him and casually placed his hand on the floor, right on top of Ebony's hand. Both faces flushed lightly at the contact, though they didn't look at each other, and Undyne noticed that. So much for 'poker faces.' Undyne was beginning to put the pieces together as the days passed, and she wasn't sure it was something she liked. Ebony was often at the skelebros' house rather than at home, when she normally would have been brainstorming a plan with Undyne to get back to the Surface. Undyne looked down and stared at her own scaly blue hands as she clenched them into tight fists. The fish woman was generally obnoxious and oblivious... and maybe didn't notice things sometimes, but _these_ were things she did notice. It bothered her for some reason.

"So what should we do next? It's probably almost time to eat, so maybe we can all grab food at Grillby's or something." Ebony pointed out, but Papyrus was quite adamant about not eating at the bar. He _did_ still have his standards.

"THE BAR'S FOOD IS TOO GREASY. EEEYUCK! THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS MAKES MUCH TASTIER DISHES, AND WE HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH SPAGHETTI HERE FOR EVERYONE. RIGHT, SANS?" As Papyrus and Ebony held a debate over greasy bar food or the ever-fabulous spaghetti, Sans sat comfortably and listened to the racket with eyes shut. Suddenly, Undyne stood up and the cards that she had been keeping on her lap fluttered silently to the floor.

 _"I'm going to Alphys' place!"_ And with that, Undyne left and unceremoniously slammed the door.

"WHERE IS UNDYNE GOING? IS SHE OKAY?" Papyrus held a gloved hand up to his chin and looked back and forth from Ebony to the door. "PERHAPS SHE IS BRINGING ALPHYS BACK WITH HER TO PARTAKE IN THE SPAGHETTI-FEST! IF SO, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN EASILY AWAIT THEIR ARRIVAL!"

Ebony stopped mid-conversation and blinked. It was true that Undyne hadn't seen her girlfriend for a couple of days now, but what just happened was so... out of the blue. Everyone was still in the middle of hanging out, and she just decided to get up and leave? What was up with her? Moving her hand from Sans', Ebony stood up and made her way to the door.

"Ebony?" She turned around and saw Sans sit up from his spot, concern written all over his face. They hadn't officially said a word about being 'a thing,' but still shared small signs of affection with each other, even if it was just a brief touch of the hands or a quick wink. Sans had also given her a little flower; even though it _did_ squirt water at her. That had him rolling with laughter for sure. It was the dumbest prank, but it made Ebony smile to see the skeleton like that. They were really cute with each other; still in the shy stages of their not-official relationship. So... Even though they weren't 'together' by title, they still worried over each other.

"I've gotta check up on Undyne. Something isn't right; she's been acting a little off lately, and I never really paid attention. But I think whatever it is... It's really bothering her," said Ebony with a tiny frown. Her hand moved up to the beige scarf around her neck, and she tugged at it anxiously. She didn't really feel like moving from where she was sitting since it was nice just being around the skelebros, but Undyne was just as important to her, and something was definitely wrong. They'd been living together for a year, and though they had bonded and become closer with each other over time, there were still going to be things they didn't know about the other. Maybe it was now time to learn something new about Undyne.

"Just uh, be careful, kid." Sans stood up with a raised hand as he spoke, waving goodbye, and Ebony nodded once to him and to Papyrus before stepping out into the cold.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Ohhh geez, I'm so sorry! My two jobs have been working me down to the_** _BONE_ ** _(ufufufu~) and I haven't had time to work on a new chapter. Please enjoy a little bit of cuteness/uneasiness this time around! c:_**

 ** _If everyone would like, I'm often on Tumblr (_** _devoted-seoul_ ** _) via my phone nowadays when I don't have time to sit at my tablet to type up a chapter. I'll be posting up different things: Doodles (with maybe some of those involving my fanfic; we'll see!), Undertale reblogs, singing, modeling, etc etc. But just to keep in touch with you guys, if you'd like. I'm always up for a good occasional chat!_**

 ** _I feel like Undyne gets jealous easily, even if it involves someone she isn't romantically involved with. She must have really gotten attached to the human to feel the way she does now. :P_**

 ** _AT ANY RATE... I'll see you guys at the next chapter! I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my chapters. It still feels weird not doing a combined role-play with all of my friends from back in high school, but I do enjoy going at my own pace now and then. :)_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	13. First Impressions

**Chapter 13: First Impressions**

For the life of her, Ebony couldn't figure out why Undyne had spoken about going to Alphys. The girl had walked all the way to the lab, but when questioning the little lizard-monster about Undyne, only more questions arose. Undyne was _not_ there with her girlfriend. But where else could she be? The lab was the furthest Ebony had ever gone; going any further would bring the young girl to a region that was still a complete mystery to her. She was too afraid to wander anywhere else, lest she become lost in some conveniently placed labyrinth. This is why she always tried to plan and map out certain places whenever she had free time with Undyne.

After buying a frozen treat from her kind Nice Cream boss around the corner at an also-Nice discount, she waved to the blue rabbit and began to back-track. Maybe Undyne was in Waterfall, back at the house again and moping or something. If she wasn't there, then Ebony would have run out of major places to look. Where the hell was her roomie?

Ebony walked along absently, finishing off the Nice Cream and licking at the remainder of juices on the stick. When she finished consuming the ice cream, she lifted the popsicle stick up to read what it said.

 _'Your taste in clothing is impeccable!'_

What? The girl snorted a little bit. Well, that was nice indeed. The compliments were always so generic, so it was a little weird to see. They were like... fortune cookies, but with feel-good compliments on them instead. Even though sometimes, fortunes were also pretty generic and extremely vague. These compliments were still pretty broad in regards to its target audience, but often had a higher success rate in stroking one's ego a little more.

Once Ebony made it past Hotland's border and back into Waterfall, she tugged at the scarf that she had tied around her waist and let out a sigh of relief. She never went often, but Hotland was always extremely... well; _HOT_ , and uncomfortable. Wearing the scarf around her neck wouldn't have been very smart, so she had tied it around her waist, through the belt loops of her pants. Even if one were to run around naked in this region, it would do them no good. Ebony removed the scarf from her waist and wound it back around her neck. She didn't stay long in Alphys' lab since she was simply trying to find the captain, but still... thank goodness for air conditioning in there.

The brown haired girl could easily see why Undyne hated staying at Hotland for too long, and knew that the fish monster only ever went there for Alphys' sake. Fish creatures must have the hardest time being in a place with no source of water. There was that measly water dispenser, perhaps, but Ebony wasn't sure whether something so small actually counted if tons of monsters passed through frequently. You couldn't carry a cup of that water anywhere with you, since it would disappear mysteriously if you didn't drink it right there. Who refilled the dispenser, anyway? It was kind of creepy and bizarre, the way things worked in this world. Water disappeared over time on the Surface as well - and applying a scientific explanation like 'evaporation' worked just fine on a normal basis - but it never evaporated as quickly as it did Underground. It made no sense whatsoever. Wouldn't weird things like that normally be something you'd only come across in a game? Maybe it was _because_ the water dispenser existed in Hotland that the water evaporated more frequently.

"-dy! Hey!" A small voice piped in and abruptly cut through Ebony's thoughts. Looking around and stopping, she didn't see anyone right away. "Down here! Ugh... _You idi_ \- I mean - Down here, buddy!"

Ebony peered down to see a little flower, who was beaming up at her. The girl had the strangest expression of disbelief and her eyes widened. There was a _face_ on a _flower_ , and * _it was talking to her_.* Fucking Christ, Underground had surprised her yet again.

 _If even FLOWERS can be monsters down here, I swear to God it's gonna be 'Beauty and the Beast' all over again if my cabinets start thinking and singing for themselves. Don't think I'd feel very comfortable with changing in my own room any more if that's the case,_ thought Ebony with a frown. She liked _watching_ those kinds of movies, and had no desire to become a part of that herself.

"Uhm... Hey." Feeling extremely wary about this new monster, Ebony took a step back and smiled faintly as she reached for the little knife she always kept in the pocket of her shorts. Her other hand still held the popsicle stick. She wanted to toss it aside, but the idea of littering always made the girl feel bad. "Did you need something, little guy?"

"You just looked pretty down in the dumps, so I thought I'd try and cheer you up! Any way I can help turn that frown upside down?" The flower's constant smile kind of reminded Ebony of Sans and his frequent grins. As the flower winked at her, the girl's green eyes narrowed. Why did some random flower want to help _her_? She didn't even know the thing, nor did she remember ever coming across it before.

His two small leaves seemed to function as hands; again, quite BIZARRE. The flower lightly smacked one of his own big yellow petals with his leaf and giggled, tongue sticking out. "Awe gee, I just realized I didn't even introduce myself! That must be why you're so cautious right now. You don't need to worry; I won't stick around for long! My name is Flowey. I'm Flowey the Flower! I'm the sweet type of guy who just wanders around and gives everyone the LOVE that they deserve!"

Ebony pushed her chestnut brown hair behind her ear and eased up a little bit, but kept her fingers around her folded knife. Most of the monsters Underground were nice, so this Flowey was probably okay anyways. Still, it never hurt to be wary regardless. "So you just go around giving 'love'? You're kind of a weird little thing, aren't you?"

"Ahaha! I guess it's a weird thing to do," Flowey said with a sheepish smile. Looking up at Ebony, he continued playfully. "But do you reeeeally wanna know what's weird? I can give you a hint: It has to do with a human! Can you take a stab at the answer?"

If Flowey hadn't given that hint, Ebony would have said the weird thing around here was him. But he said it had to do with a human? The only other human here was the one Sans mentioned once in the past. She decided to play along and take a guess. It wouldn't hurt to give it a go.

"Are you talking about Frisk? Because I haven't even met the kid yet, so I don't know what would be so-"

" _NO_ , silly!" The flower's faint hint of an eyebrow twitched but he laughed, smiling patiently. Hearing the name 'Frisk' wasn't exactly pleasant for Flowey, and though Ebony couldn't figure out why that was so, she still noticed it. "It was a nice guess, but that's not the weird thing around here!"

Ebony couldn't think of anyone else around here who qualified for the question that the plant was asking. Feeling uncertain now, she shrugged once. "Sorry, _bud_ , but I really can't think of anything weird then. Frisk is the only other human that I heard about down here." Sans would have been proud of her for throwing a mini-pun out there.

"You really are an _IDIOT,_ aren't you?"

Flowey's face suddenly twisted, the cute beady eyes and patient smile now gone. In its place was a deformed smile and a pair of soulless eyes. It happened so quickly; Ebony didn't have much time to think, and she stumbled backward when roots slowly grew over her feet. They seemed to be following her even as she got onto her knees and moved away.

"Whoa... What in the actual _fuck_ are you trying to do?" Ebony was damn right to be wary about that monster. She drew the knife from her pocket and tried to stand back up, but the roots got ahold of her ankles and she crashed onto her tailbone. The unexpected shock made her yelp and the popsicle stick in her left hand was hurled into the distance, but she held tightly onto her weapon. Seeing the blade only made Flowey laugh with a look of disdain.

"I knew it. Humans really _are_ about the 'Kill or be killed' phrase!" Flowey laughed delightedly and peered condescendingly at the human. "Don't you have a precious brother on the Surface whom you were _SOOOO_ worried about? And here you are, hanging around down here and getting all intimate with that silly _skeleton. YOU'RE the weird one here. What happened to saving your dear family? Did you just think you could_ _ **FORGET ABOUT HIM**_ _? Maybe start a new cozy life down here and forget about the reason you were trying to get back up there in the first place?"_

Ebony was speechless. She couldn't think of anything to say, except: "How the hell do you know about my brother...?"

Flowey's face was horrifying now, distorted and terrible, with the most unsightly grin Ebony had ever seen on any living thing. " _You are the worst._ Why does my knowing matter? You shouldn't _care_ about other people knowing. What difference does it make for you? What you should _reaaally_ be concerned about is the fact that you're abandoning all your fluffy heroic priorities and _**ditching your brother**_. Humans like you are what make this world so incredibly _ugly_. Telling people you're going to do one thing so you look good - so they _**pity you**_ \- and then _blowing off those words to go have your own fun. You are just so selfish, Ebony_."

"I don't _want_ to be pitied... You... You shut the fuck up!" How the fuck did Flowey know her name? How did he know any of this? She hadn't even met this thing before. Ebony raised her knife to try and slash at the roots, but one of them wrapped tightly around the girl's wrists to prevent any stabbing. Soon, the weapon clanked onto the floor. Ebony found herself pinned to the ground now, the disgusting feeling of plants slithering over her body like grotesque snakes to keep her in place. Some good that knife did. Fuck. "You don't know _SHIT_ \- I... I'm still trying to find him-"

"Really? How far has that ' **trying'** gotten you, might I ask?" Flowey cackled and Ebony felt the blood drain from her face. Her eyes began to sting with tears and she stuttered, searching for the right answer to provide. Nothing came to mind. The flower answered for her instead. " _All your 'trying' has done is get you a date with a **skeleton**_. I don't see you getting anywhere with finding your idiot brother."

" _HE IS_ _ **NOT**_ _AN IDIOT."_ Ebony snapped through gritted teeth, feeling unbelievably protective of her brother even though he wasn't around. _"DON'T YOU DARE SAY THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT."_

 _"There you go. That's the proper face of a disgusting human. I like that!"_ The flower creature smiled happily, that cute beady look returning to his face. The roots he had around Ebony slipped around the girl's thighs, making her breath hitch. Shit hit the ceiling, and it hit that ceiling fucking fast.  
Anger dissipated quickly and was soon replaced with fear. No. _**NO**_. _He wouldn't_ -

"Go ahead; scream for your friends," Flowey said dismissively, smirking all the while. _"See if any of them come for you."_

Ebony's eyes darted desperately around the area and she cried out hoarsely for Sans.

For Grillby. For Undyne. For the Great Papyrus.

For fuck's sake, she even cried for her _mother_.

 _ **But nobody came.**_

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Oh man, I always wanted to write about Flowey. c:_**

 ** _This one was actually sort of fun to write! I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out. We'll see how it plays out in the next chapter!_**

 ** _Shout-out to Awesomenesss-sama: I know you said that the "virgin" comment wasn't meant to put anyone down, but I do apologize and love you regardless! I guess I never take that topic too lightly since I can totally understand where you're coming from. I was one for so many years until wayyyy after I graduated high school, and writing about smut, let alone THINKING about it, was really hard for me to do. :)_**

 ** _Also, bebe shout-outs to Angel of Randomosity, Awesomenesss-sama, BitterBetrayals, BlueFlame27, DJ Creeper, Just 2 Dream of You, Kira Evangeline, Liziey123, Patchwork Knightess, Perminatly Lost In Thought, Shadefeather682, Tohzuki Meru, arealnative, badwolf1515, emmamayy4310, mika3451, ombresable, and sydnie-renee for keeping me under your alerts and/or favourites!_**

 ** _I know one day, the list of people may be too long for me to type every single person out, and I won't be able to do it all the time... But I just wanted to say I appreciate every single one of you. You're all fantastic humans. ;D_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	14. Renewed Hope

**Chapter 14: Renewed Hope**

Ebony shut her eyes tight and sobbed as Flowey cackled, the roots cutting fresh wounds all over her wrists and legs with tiny thorns as they moved lazily along her body. Being Underground did suck. Where were her friends when she needed them most? It's not like they really knew where she was, since she just left them to look for Undyne, but... Her biggest fear was always being alone. It was happening right now; she was alone with a flower who was going to screw her over royally, and before she could even find her brother. . .

" _YOU GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER. I'M_ _ **NOT**_ _GONNA LET YOU BOINK HER!"_

" _You're not gonna let me...? Wait, what do you mean?!"_ Flowey froze for a second, the expression of utter confusion painted on his face.

But that familiar voice-

Ebony opened her teary eyes and looked around, hope welling up in her chest. She found Undyne right in front of Flowey, and she was squatting, trying to uproot the evil flower with bare hands. With the fish lady's brute force, Ebony was surprised to find that Flowey fought hard to stay in the ground and was doing fairly well at it.

" _What- Ow! **Wh**_ _ **at do you think you're DOING?!**_ _Let go of me!"_ Flowey's voice grew whiny, and Ebony could feel the roots loosening around her. Sitting up, the girl watched as Undyne tore a yellow petal while wrestling with the flower. Tears sprung in Flowey's tiny eyes and he screeched in pain, his face distorting once more.

" _ **AGGGH! YOU CRAZY HAG, STOP IT! You're hurting me!"**_

Undyne drew close to Flowey, flashing her sharp teeth as her lips curled into a snarl. Ebony saw the flower's petals droop from fear, as the realization of his life possibly being in danger dawned on him. Being man-handled by the crazy fish monster was probably pretty scary for such a tiny flower. " _I'm_ hurting _**you**_? Then what were you doing to Ebb? That wasn't _'h_ _urting'_ someone? If you want me to stop, then you back off of her _now_. You'll run away, and _**you won't bother her again**_."

" _ **OKAY, GEE WHIZ! *JUST LET GO OF ME!*"**_ Flowey's voice raised in pitch as he gave a shrill cry. Undyne glanced back at Ebony, who had gotten up and moved away from the thorny roots, then finally let go of the psychotic flower. Looking hurt, emotionally and physically, Flowey scowled resentfully at the two girls and then disappeared into the ground, taking his roots and damaged petals along with him. Once she made sure the flower wasn't going to be coming back, Undyne spun Ebony around and examined the girl frantically.

"Ebb, are you okay?! Did that little punk... _You know_...?"

Ebony knew what her friend was hinting at. She shook her head with wide eyes and tears spilled down her cheeks. The girl wasn't even sure of the motive herself. "No, he... Actually, I don't think he was going to; I feel like he just wanted to scare the shit out of me and make me leave Underground...? Somehow he knew about my brother. . ."

Undyne breathed a sigh of relief and hugged the brown haired girl tightly, whirling around in a circle. Ebony squeaked weakly as her diaphragm was temporarily crushed, and then she coughed a few times when she was finally put back onto the ground. "I thought I heard your puny voice when I was headed back to our place. What the heck're you doing out here anyway? I thought you were still with Sans and Papyrus."

"I was just worried about you," answered Ebony softly, and she leaned into her friend. Her arms and legs felt numb from all the tiny wounds Flowey's thorns had inflicted. Some of the cuts oozed disgustingly, and various spots on her body were smeared with a mixture of dirt and blood. This was probably the shittiest she'd ever felt. "We were all hanging out, and you just left. Of _course_ I'd worry, silly."

The fish lady wasn't sure what to say at first. It was hard for her to explain the reason for leaving the skelebros' house earlier. Ebony had become such a good friend over the year that they were living together. Undyne didn't really have too many friends because of her inhuman strength. People had a tendency to admire her as captain of the Royal Guard, but it was normally from a distance. They knew she had a good heart, but her recklessness sometimes... destroyed things. Undyne hesitated before struggling to construct a careful answer. "I dunno, I guess I just got... really mad, uneasy, or _something_. I really like Alphys, so don't get me wrong. I'd never be able to crush on a bigger dweeb than her. I don't like you in that way. But you've just become really precious to me this past year. Seeing you hang out with Sans instead lately just..."

Ebony began to understand and gave a tiny smile, pulling away for a second to give Undyne an incredulous look. "Is somebody... _jealous?_ "

" _You shut it, punk."_ Undyne blushed profusely and pushed Ebony's face away with one hand, and the girl fell backward onto her butt, laughing. "I can just see how you are with Sans lately! It's so freaking... CUTE, that I can't... can't freaking _h_ _andle_ it sometimes. _It makes me wanna puke! ..._ And I just couldn't take the idea of someone taking my friend away."

The young girl's green eyes softened as she watched the fish lady stumble over words. Ebony could definitely understand the feeling of suddenly being unwanted, and of being ignored. "I didn't replace you, you dork! You'll always be my best friend. I'm sorry I just started neglecting you. I just get so carried away with Sans, I end up forgetting-"

"That you have your brother to save?"

Ebony stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked up from where she had been sitting. Undyne had a hand on her hip while she extended the other hand to help the girl get back up. With a sigh, the fish lady tousled her friend's short brown hair. "Well, maybe not ' _save.'_ I dunno if he needs saving at all, but you did say you have to find him. Ebb, I really don't want to lose you as a friend, but don't you forget: You had a reason for trying to make it to the Surface in the first place."

"... Yeah. I know. I guess it was just easier to live life the way I already was down here. My state of mind had gone from 'Gotta get the fuck outta here, gotta find my brother' to just, 'Y'know, maybe it's just easier this way,' and I totally am at fault for even thinking that way. I really _am_ a horrible human," said Ebony remorsefully, her voice faltering. She looked down and examined her precious scarf, which had been torn up a little more thanks to all of Flowey's abusive thorns. No; she really didn't want to forget Brennivin. It'd be downright cruel to forget her own flesh and blood. Regardless, it didn't change the fact that the life she tried to settle for instead while Underground was just detestable.

"You shut up with all that talk!" Undyne looked irritated, and her sudden outburst had surprised Ebony considerably. "You are _NOT_ a horrible human! It's okay to enjoy yourself every once in a while. Just don't forget about everything else going on around you. The balance has to be there!"

The young girl giggled at that. "You're one to talk about 'balance,' huh? You're always on full-speed, full-power, full _everything._ "

"Of course! You gotta be passionate in EVERYTHING you do! You don't need to balance _PASSION!_ " Undyne barked a laugh and confidently placed both hands on her hips, displaying all the resolution in the world with one pose. Ebony couldn't help feeling a little more determined seeing her roommate be their usual obnoxious self.

After finding her knife on the ground and pocketing it again, the girl clutched her tattered scarf and took a deep breath. Right. Time to get back on track. No distractions.

Her mind promptly flew to Sans and she hesitated. Distractions. Like love...? That sweet, short skeleton... She swallowed hard. It would be difficult to resist him at this point in time. She was getting to know him, and she was already growing feelings for the big dork. She couldn't just ignore him, could she?

 _If... that's what it takes to get out of here so I can find my brother..._ Ebony thought dolefully. She gnawed at the inside of her cheek, that habit of anxiety coming into play yet again while she walked alongside Undyne toward Snowdin.

"Let's stop by Papyrus' and Sans' house," Undyne suggested, her brain already getting into gear. "They might know where Frisk is. You can meet Frisk and Tori them before we make way for the Surface. Maybe you can get some advice or somethin'. We need to take care of all those crazy cuts you have, too!"

Oh God. Ebony's stomach did a somersault. So soon after she had made the decision to not get attached to Sans, the two were already going to go to his house to see him and Paps? The girl swallowed hard and shut her eyes tightly, now walking just a couple of steps behind her blue-scaled friend.

 _C'mon, dammit. This is for Brennivin. I need to be his big sister again._

Ebony firmly reminded herself over and over on the way to the skelebros' house, as if she were reciting a mantra.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Yeahhh, no raping today, guys! ;D_**

 ** _Asriel is still cute bebe-goat in my heart, so even though he's forced to be an evil flower, I can't make him do horrible rape-age things to anyone. He's still a child (technically speaking), so I didn't want him doing anything sexual; or at least intentionally, on his part. All goat-flower wants to do is hurt and scare people. Ebony ASSUMED she was going to be raped, but obviously she has a dirty mind if she already imagined what Grillby was going to look like without clothing on in the first chapter alone. xD_**

 ** _Though I *have* seen some pretty attractive pieces of fan-art of Asriel doing NSFW things (it's a little rare, but it's there! Found it on accident though, and MAN, I cannot unsee those kinds of things D:), I don't have the heart to make him do that in my story. :)_**

 ** _Anyway, Undyne and Ebony have bonded yet a little more, and it seems Ebony is set on keeping herself from falling more in love with Sans. Errrmergerd what do nao?_**

 ** _I'll be reading through my previous chapters too. I think we as writers like to do that every once in a while, just to see how the story is coming along. I feel like it's a good habit, so you don't lose sight of what you wanted to happen in the first place!_**

 ** _In the meantime, you guys take care~ I'll see you at the next chapter!_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	15. What Is Love?

**Chapter 15: What Is Love?**

When the girls finally reached Sans' and Papyrus' house, Ebony could see Papyrus motioning excitedly to Sans from the other side of the window. The door clicked open, and there stood the goofy sweetheart with his ridiculous pink slippers. Ebony's heart sank quickly, but she kept her outward expression in check. She wasn't very sure how long she'd be able to keep that up. The skeleton on the other hand... His face lit up at the sight of the human, but a frown soon took place when he noticed the condition Ebony was in.

"Holy bejeebus, are you okay, kid?" Sans was at the girl's side in an instant, and he lifted a hand toward her arm to check on all the injuries. Ebony flinched away immediately, but made up for the offending action by grinning and scratching at her head.

"Oh. Hey! Sorry, I just gotta get cleaned up later. Thanks for asking!" She walked happily into the house with a tiny bounce in her step.

Sans stared after Ebony, his hand falling to his side. Maybe there was a lot on her mind. Why would she be covered in cuts and still smile like that? Hurting but smiling on the outside was usually... what he did.

"IS... IS THE HUMAN OKAY?" Papyrus leaned over toward Undyne after seeing the awkward exchange and spoke in a hushed tone. He was wringing his bright red scarf with his hands and truly felt concerned for his human friend. "SHE'S USUALLY SO HAPPY TO SEE US..."

Undyne watched as Ebony sat rigidly at the couch and turned the television on. "Yeah. Er, she's had a long day."

Sans went inside and sat down next to Ebony as she focused blankly on the television screen. He inched a little closer from where he sat and placed his hand gently over the girl's warm fingers, but her hand moved away only a second later as she stretched and yawned casually. Avoiding his touch was obviously intentional. Sans swallowed hard, a big lump sitting persistently in his throat. The feeling of rejection pervaded his thoughts, and it scared him. He closed his phalanges around air and jammed his hands back into his fur-lined coat.

Ebony kept repeating to herself that she could not risk getting distracted again. Her resolve threatened to dissolve every time she had to brush off Sans' advances. She knew it was confusing him. They had frequently and discreetly been sweet on each other for about a month already; she, too, would feel bewildered if Sans suddenly pulled the cold shoulder on her at this point.

"Ebb?" Sans spoke softly with eyes still glued to the television screen. He didn't want to keep the girl from her show for too long. Sans only spoke the way he did, as he was afraid the beautiful girl next to him was finally losing interest in him. He was only a skeleton, after all. Everything was already bare and on the table when you were a skeleton. There wasn't much else he could offer; or at least, that's what he thought. Perhaps it was only a matter of time before Ebony would lose that interest completely. It hurt, but he still wouldn't be surprised.

Ebony's eyebrows raised as if she had an immense interest in Mettaton's faux relationship in the episode that was playing, but frankly, she could have cared less. The brown haired girl then anxiously adjusted the beige scarf around her neck before she glanced briefly at her couch buddy with a bright smile. "Ah, what's up?"

Sans' face became a look of pure perplexity, as he was not expecting Ebony to respond the way that she did. It didn't feel right at all. "... Never mind. It, uh, totally slipped my mind, aha... _ha_..."

Ebony laughed lightly in turn before facing the TV again, but the smile wasn't reaching her eyes. Sans could tell she wasn't being sincere right now. The skeleton felt uneasiness settle in, along with an an ache so familiar that he had no desire of feeling again. Had he done something wrong? Was it... Grillby? As Sans began to agonize internally about what could have thrown a wrench in their budding relations, Ebony was choking up on the inside.

 _Fuck this,_ Ebony raged inside, angry at herself for being so curt and distant with Sans. _Do I really need to ignore all the joys in my life just so I can get out of here? Is giving up everything else worth doing? Can't I *still* find Brenn and enjoy my own life at the same time...?_ She looked outside the window and saw that Papyrus was speaking with Undyne; it was highly probable that the conversation was about Ebony meeting the other human. Their name was... Frisk, if the girl recalled correctly. She needed to speak with them.

Ebony peeked over at Sans, who had his head bowed and resting in his open hands as he tried to assess the situation. Ebony felt a twinge of guilt and squeezed her eyes shut, then stood up to leave. It wasn't even a full day, but acting like this with such a sweetie really sucked ass.

The girl felt something cool settle on her left arm. Before she could open her eyes to see what it was, another feeling came into play, like a strange tugging at her skin and an uncomfortable pressure on her beating heart. It became difficult to breathe. Eventually, the experience stopped. Ebony gasped as the uncomfortable sensations dissipated, then opened her eyes and found herself in a bedroom. She noticed Sans' hand was what had touched her arm, and was still placed there. Weren't they just in the living room? Looking about, she saw plain white socks scattered here and there. There was a treadmill that looked unused and now sat in the corner of the room with a note attached to it, and... A baby self-sustaining tornado with trash in it? What kind of room was this, anyway?

Glancing over at Sans, and befuddled over what had just happened, Ebony caught the skeleton's gaze. He did not look happy. The ever-grinning skelebro was frowning slightly as he stared back at the girl.

"What did I do wrong?"

Ebony was speechless and taken aback by the question, because Sans _didn't_ do anything wrong. She realized that maybe acting distant with the guy so soon really was a bad idea, but she didn't know how else to keep her feelings for him at bay.

"Were you just toying with me? Do you have feelings for someone else?" Sans was definitely confused. It broke the girl's heart to see him agonizing over something that wasn't even his fault. What was she supposed to say?

"Sans, you didn't do anything wrong-"

"Then why are you bein' so _weird_ right now?" Sans took a step toward Ebony, who instinctively took a step backward until her legs bumped abruptly into the edge of the skeleton's mattress. The girl lost her balance and her arms flew out, trying to grab onto something as she fell back onto the bed. Her hands had grabbed reflexively at the furry hood of Sans' jacket, and, like the Domino Effect, he soon came falling forward onto the young girl.

Sans didn't move from his spot, and all of his weight kept Ebony pinned to the bed. He was surprisingly weighty, despite being a skeleton. He pushed his face up against the girl's neck and spoke desperately. "If I didn't do anything wrong... If we were doing just fine for almost a month already... Then why are you actin' this way with me? If you were interested in someone else, then you shoulda told me. I can't handle this feeling of abandonment right now, kid."

The low rumble of his voice tickled the girl's neck, making her squirm under the skeleton. It occurred to Ebony that maybe Sans was the jealous type as well. Other than fucking with Grillby before getting to know Sans, the girl didn't couple up with anyone other than the skeleton after that. It had been a while since the first time they had sex together, too.

The guilt was too much. Ebony couldn't take it any more. She lost count of how many times she felt her heart break from today alone. She wrapped her arms around Sans and held him tightly, reaching a hand up to stroke his smooth skull as he trembled.

She took time trying to come up with a proper answer, keeping the skelebro in her arms. But in the end, all she could say was, "It has nothing to do with being interested in someone else... I can't expect you to understand the effort I need to make just to keep myself from straying. I really have to find my brother."

"Straying? You sayin' you can't love a bonehead like me because of that?"

Sans lifted himself and moved over her so his face was inches from hers. His words tugged at Ebony's heartstrings. The skeleton leaned down and pressed his teeth against the girl's forehead. She knew well that it was Sans' equivalence of kissing, and heat rose quickly to her cheeks.

"I... I didn't say that at all... I just keep getting distracted..."

"You're a weird kid, heh," Sans began with a weak chuckle. He felt his bones rattle from anxiety as he gazed at the girl with a new look: Adoration, perhaps? "You know we can help you find your brother. We all care about you. Hell, _*I*_ care... about you. Why do you think you need to do it all by yourself?"

Ebony reached up and placed her hands on either side of Sans' skull, using her thumbs to stroke tiny circles against his cheekbones. She loved him so much. She was well aware of it already. She had never felt so emotionally invested in a person in such a short time frame, so just thinking about the concept felt foreign to her. It was not in response to the question imposed upon her, but she looked away as she mustered the courage to whisper embarrassingly, "Dammit, I... _Uh_... _Jesus Christ_ \- I... I don't know what to say, okay? I really do love you. You're just a really sweet guy, and I swear nobody has ever given me butterflies the way you do."

Sans' eyes widened ever-so-slightly, the pinpricks of light in his eye sockets brightening up more than ever before, once he realized what the girl was actually confessing. His face was so blue. It was adorable how embarrassed he got, but Ebony was much too flustered herself to notice at the time.

Clearing her throat awkwardly before looking up at Sans, Ebony continued to speak a little more firmly.

"But anyway, I just... I didn't want to burden anybody else here. I was the dummy who fell down here, and my brother is my own problem that I need to take care of. It was never something I wanted to push on other people. The longer I take having fun down here, the longer it'll take for me to find my brother. I don't even know if he's still alive at this point; it's been two years already! But we've only got each other. I can't ever take that for granted."

The skeleton traced a bony finger along Ebony's cheekbone, looking at her with all the love in the world. Ebony wasn't quite used to that expression. Her past relationships consisted of being used or using _them._ This was one skeleton she'd never want to use, nor did she want to hurt him. "You sound like me, y'know. I always wanted to keep my problems to myself. Paps is the only family I've got now, too; I get where you're coming from with that. I can see why you don't want to bother anyone else with it. But I don't think you'd be pushin' the task on anybody else; the help is being _given_ to you, girl. If I were you, I'd take whatever help I can get if it meant being able to find my own bro again."

Ebony nodded once and contemplated Sans' words. It was true; she really should have been accepting all the help while Underground if it could reunite her with Brenn. Keeping everything to herself was probably not a healthy thing to pull, either. As Ebony mulled over her thoughts about what to do next, Sans watched the girl carefully before he leaned down and gently bumped his forehead against hers.

"I think it's safe to say we're both boneheads here." Sans admit to that with a sheepish grin. It caught Ebony off guard, but the big goof kissed the girl sweetly and they locked eyes with each other as Sans added, "Ebb, you _know_ I love you, right? I wouldn'ta freaked out earlier if I didn't."

It was nice, being able to talk openly like that with one another. Ebony decided that maybe it really would be okay to have Sans and _STILL_ make way for the Surface to find Brennivin.

"Yeah. I know. Wanna call it official after I clean up my wounds?" The girl poked at the Sans' chin with her index finger as she tried to make the proposal sound casual. The skeleton said exactly what she had told _him_ almost a month ago when they had sex in her bathroom. It was funny to think about, but it truly made Ebony smile.

"I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _"- - - BABY DON'T HURT ME_**

 ** _DON'T HURT ME_**

 ** _NO MORE"_**

 ** _... Okay, sorry. The titleeeeeeeee I just HAD to. xD_**

 ** _This chapter was initially going to go a whole 'nother way, but I think it's better this way. Otherwise, I'd be rushing things a bit too much, and there's no way I want to do that with my little baby. :'3 I wanted to do a mini shout-out to xXGlamorousGloraXx. It's very sweet of you to leave a comment on all the chapters that you've read so far, and I'm very thankful for that. :)_**

 ** _GAWD I love all of you. Seeing new reviews really makes a person feel special._**

 ** _Anywayyyys, see you guys at the next chapter...!  
_**

 ** _; w;_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	16. Taking A Breather

**Chapter 16: Taking A Breather**

"... You're not much of a talker, huh?" Ebony sat across from a young child who stood before her; they looked to be in their early teens. The child had brown hair that was beginning to grow a bit past their shoulders. It was _extremely_ difficult to discern whether they were a boy or a girl. The blue and magenta striped shirt didn't exactly make it any easier to tell, and they apparently hadn't hit puberty just yet. Ebony felt pretty awkward about trying to hold a conversation while having to figure out their gender herself. So after some prompting, Ebony had been able to confirm that they were actually a boy, and that they were indeed the 'Frisk' that had been mentioned a number of times to her in the past. She was finally in the Ruins; the others were in the living room with Toriel and Asgore while she spoke to Frisk in his bedroom.

"Not much. Speaking was especially selective for me a couple years back," the boy responded with a simple smile. He didn't seem to have a problem with that, either. "So you had questions?"

"Oh! Uhm, I needed to ask you: Is the 'Barrier' broken? Undyne mentioned something about going through the Core and she started talking about the Barrier, but we never got to finish discussing it together."

Frisk sat on the edge of his bed and nodded. "Yeah, since a few years ago." It looked like he wanted to say more, but Ebony thought it better not to pry. The boy let his legs dangle, his feet swinging back and forth as Ebony sat cross-legged on the floor in front of him. One of the child's shoelaces had come undone, and Ebony vacantly observed as the laces flew around with each kick.

Ebony tried to recall a time when she saw _any_ monsters while she was still living on the Surface, but she was astonished to realize that she never saw any. "So if the Barrier has been broken, and for so long already, then shouldn't there be monsters on the Surface by now?"

"Plenty of them left for the new world, but they could still be afraid of humans."

Well, that made sense. Humans would probably be terrified of the monsters, too. The feeling of fear between both races would be pretty mutual. It also explained why she never got much business while working her two jobs Underground. So there were probably hundreds of monsters living on the Surface by now, but they were probably hiding out because of their fear of humans.

"If they're so scared of us, then why did they even go up there to continue their lives?"

Frisk looked up as he listened to the girl's question and thought hard about it. His eyes went all squinty as he tried to think up a good answer. He eventually blinked and tilted his head to one side, his gaze still upon the ceiling. "Wouldn't you want to explore a new world if you had the chance?"

That was quite true. But she remembered how she freaked out with all the monsters when she first fell. It would be no surprise if the monsters were having their own culture shock when trying to fit in up there. There might be plenty of power struggles and confrontations... eventually, if not already. It was a whole 'nother issue from the one she needed to focus on, but it still worried Ebony greatly. None of the monsters down there were actually bad. They all took care of her. Well, except for Undyne, but that was only initially, and was for good reason.

 _But there_ _ **was**_ _one monster who was actually bad... At least, I didn't get a good vibe from him,_ thought Ebony with a shiver. But it did remind her that that was the other thing she wanted to talk about.

"Frisk, I wanted to ask you... Have you ever heard of a talking flower?"

The young teenager's kicking legs slowed to a stop. Ebony saw the strangely upset expression on the boy's face, but he smiled weakly at the older woman and tried to feign ignorance.

"You mean the Echo Flower?"

"No. . . I mean this weird plant named Flowey."

"I... I'm not sure what a 'Flowey' is."

"Frisk, the thing reacted to your name when I thought it was talking about you."

". . ."

It seemed that any more prodding would not get Ebony any further, but when she said, "He attacked me. And he somehow knew about my brother," then Frisk's eyes darted over to her. He finally noticed all the faint scars, or what remained, on the girl's bare legs, as she had worn her shorts to the Ruins. Ebony heard the kid gasp softly.

"But why would he...?" Frisk mumbled worriedly. "I thought he learned by now..."

Ebony's concern grew, and she began to stand up. "Is Flowey your... _friend_ or something?"

"Not really, but..." Frisk was obviously puzzled, and his voice trailed off. Both hands were shoved into his lap as he pouted.

Somebody knocked at the door only a moment later, and by habit, Frisk called out, "Who's there?"

"Sternum."

Ebony's mossy green eyes lit up. She knew who was on the other side already. All somber thoughts of Flowey fled her mind.

"Sternum who?" Frisk had hopped off the bed and was making his way to the door.

"I had to tell Tori a little _fibula_ so you guys could talk about this stuff a little longer," said Sans as the door opened for him, "And she was pretty _sternum_ about that. She wants you to help her make some snail pie now, kiddo."

" _Okayyy_." Frisk stuck his tongue out at that and faked a gag as he left the room. Ebony could hear the kid grumble, "I still can't get used to snails."

Ebony giggled; despite all that Frisk had apparently gone through years ago, a kid would always still be a kid. Sans swooped in on the girl and gave her a peck on the lips, totally catching her by surprise.

"Hey, love," the skeleton greeted her happily. "Didja get to talk about whatever with Frisk?"

"Yeah, I learned me some stuff today." Ebony kissed him back and smiled uneasily. She did still feel a little concerned about the whole thing with Flowey, but it was so good to find out that the Barrier would no longer be an issue for her.

"You doin' okay?" He never really showed it much, but Sans was pretty perceptive sometimes. He lifted his right hand and stroked his girlfriend's cheek.

 _'Girlfriend.' Oh god._ The word still awed Ebony and made her all warm and tingly.

"Yeah, I just need a little breather now," confessed the girl as she stretched her arms upward.

"Is that so. . .? Need help with that, lovebug?"

The woman shook her head and let out a small sigh. It was sweet of the skelebro to offer, but getting a breath of fresh air wouldn't take much effort, and she didn't really need help with something as trivial as that. "No thanks; I think I just need to lie down."

"I don't think you understand the magnitude of the offer I'm makin' to you, Ebb." San's left hand wrapped around Ebony's waist as he pulled her close. He leaned over to the girl's ear and murmured almost shyly, "I think you _do_ need help with that 'breather,' and you need it badly."

Ebony's hands, which were still in the air from when she was stretching, suddenly dropped and her eyes widened with realization. "You... In Frisk's room though?" She tried to escape Sans' grasp as she said, "If we did, _at all,_ then we need to lock his door! I can't have him walking in if-"

The skeleton's grip tightened around his girlfriend's waist and he winked with a reassuring smile.

 _Jesus Christ, don't get all adorable with me..._

"Nah, he'll be taking forever making that pie with Tori. Trust me on this one. The kid doesn't like snails, so he takes his sweet- _ass_ time with it. The others are still busy talking with Asgore."

The girl gasped when Sans squeezed her ass cheek as he spoke, and saw his left eye flash blue. She got the chills whenever he used his magic. There was something very powerful about it, and she was sure she hadn't even seen the extent of it yet. The idea of possibly fucking around in a child's room horrified Ebony, and yet she couldn't deny that it thrilled her at the same time. Lust made her give in. Fuck. "Okay. You got me. So what do you want to do?"

Sans opened his mouth, his blue slimy tongue snaking out to lick at her ear. Ebony shivered and clutched at the skeleton's coat as he grinned wickedly, his bony finger trailing lazily along the bottom of the girl's shorts. He stopped at Ebony's inner thigh and traced tiny figure eights there, teasing her and enjoying the small sighs of pleasure that escaped the girl's lips. "Oh, no, I think it's _your_ turn to decide, darling."

" _Ahh-!_ I... Are you sure...?" Ebony hesitated, for only a moment.

"Yeah. 'm very sure." The skeleton's mouth met hers and their tongues toyed with each other for a good couple of minutes. Ebony thought she heard an extremely low hum and the bedroom door clicked shut. Oh god, and it _didn't lock_. Sans was apparently very serious about that. He had used his free hand to use magic and close the door, his long blue tongue not missing a beat as he continued to make out with his woman. Ebony could feel her nether region slowly becoming wet, and she hurriedly reached down to pull her boyfriend's shorts from his waist. Still kissing the skeleton and enjoying the pleasant taste that came with the experience, Ebony wrapped her hands around the base of Sans' throbbing dick. And speaking of 'pleasant taste'...

Sans gasped this time, pulling away and trembling with anticipation as Ebony got onto her knees and licked her lips. He groaned with pleasure as the girl's lips finally parted and as she took the tip of the blue cock into her mouth.

"Holy _cripe_ , Ebb... _ah. . . !_ "

It was a struggle to place her lips fully around the guy's fat cock, but _fuck it all_ if she stopped, because that groan was just _too fucking hot._

 _"Mmmm... Baby, you need to keep quiet, or else someone'll hear you."_ The woman was teasing him now. She knew that Sans liked the noises just as much as she did, so she did her best to make small slurping sounds whenever her tongue swept along the skelebro's entire length, despite what she had just told him. His body twitched whenever the girl whispered his name against his own dick. This elicited a throaty growl from Sans, who placed a hand on top of Ebony's head. Dear god, Ebony got so wet when he growled like that.

She knew her big-boned lover was enjoying it, because when she watched him, she could see the look of pure lust on his face. He was losing it already; his composure was deteriorating rapidly every time she stroked his dick with her hand _and_ swirled her tongue around the head. His legs shook and his bones rattled softly, and his heart melted when he saw the way Ebony gazed up at him from her position. It was too fucking much. Sans grasped a good amount of the girl's soft brown hair with his bony fingers and thrust forcefully into her mouth with a moan. Ebony gagged and her eyes rolled up to the back of her head for a moment.

 _Fucking hell, he's so big._ Ebony reveled in the fact that the cock throbbing in her mouth was for her to enjoy, and it was _hers_ alone. If Sans was allowed to get possessive with her, then she should be allowed to monopolize him as well.

It wasn't long before Sans shut his eyes tightly and grunted, legitimately trying to keep from making too much noise. He loved fucking her mouth, it seemed. Ebony had no problem whatsoever with that, because he tasted amazing. Salty and sweet was always a thing for her anyways.

"Ebb, _ohhhFUCK. I'm cumming - hahh..._ _ **ahh**_ _..."_ Sans had gotten a lot more lenient with the swears ('As long as it's not around Paps,' he'd mentioned conveniently when Ebony teased him about swearing back in the bathroom the first time), and the girl liked hearing it from time to time. Sans panted and grabbed at Ebony's head with both hands, his tongue out and eyes half-lidded. He was so ready to cum, and Ebony was so ready to take it. " _Open your throat up for me, babe, you're gonna swallow EVERY... BIT - fuck... nngh, I'm-!"_

The brown haired girl shut her eyes and did her best to swallow every drop of cum that shot into her mouth. Sans shivered whenever Ebony swallowed more of the sticky substance, the muscles in her throat contracting around his softening dick occasionally. There was no way in hell Ebony was going to let any of that good stuff go to waste. And she still tried to be mindful of the fact that this was Frisk's room, and any goops of blue *ANYWHERE* would get them in some trouble.

Once Ebony finished swallowing Sans' cum, the skeleton slowly pulled his shorts back on and helped the girl stand back up. Sans ignored the fact that he would be kissing someone who had just swallowed his jizz. He lifted Ebony's chin with an index finger and gave her the sweetest, longest kiss.

" _God,_ I love you. Holy moly, you left _no_ mess. Uh... Who was the one takin' a breather again?"

Ebony laughed at the satisfied expression on Sans' face as he flopped backward onto Frisk's bed, and she climbed onto the bed with him. She felt bad about taking over the bed, but MAN was she worn out now. The girl nestled herself into the crook of one of Sans' arms and cuddled up to him with a content smile. "I'm going to be honest, Sans; that was _more_ than enough for me. Thank you."

As the two laid there in a comfortable silence, they could smell something funny as the scent wafted between the bottom of the door and its threshold. It was barely pungent and yet smelled sweet; it was probably the snail pie. It probably tasted weird, but Ebony wouldn't mind trying some for Toriel's sake. It was the least she could do for the goat-mother since she was imposing upon the small family by being there. She spoke quietly about silly, random things with Sans, as if she were entrusting the secrets of the world to him while they laid there together. It wasn't for too long anyways, since she soon heard a soft snore and felt the small rise and fall of her boyfriend's chest.

What a lazy butt. Ebony giggled and eventually let sleep overtake her as well.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Oh dear me, I fell asleep with my tablet on my chest again. I freaked out because I forgot what was going on when I woke up three hours later. AGH I NEED TO STOP THAT._**

 ** _Welp, helloooo readers! So I did notice that there were quite a handful of people who prefer to use Frisk as a female, whereas others keep Frisk's gender ambiguous. It's totally cool by me. I considered doing the latter as well, but I thought that since Frisk often ends up being a female (for very obvious reasons, ufufufufu xD), I would make them a young male in this story! I can hope you guys will respect the decision I've made with this. It's nice to write as a kid; makes me think of how I would have acted when I was a little tomboy. : )_**

 ** _ALSO, I like the idea of Sans using all sorts of sweet pet names for his significant other. It makes me all warm inside, ehehe. = w=_**

 ** _Thank you, WickedScribbles, for still making time to catch up on all my chaps. Dang. Senpai noticed me. I lurv you. ; w;_**

 ** _I've noticed there have been a couple of new people following my story, and I wanted to thank you guys so much for taking an interest in my little baby! I've written wayyy more chapters that I thought I was going to, and it's still going! The determination is real indeed, and I'm proud of myself for still sticking to a story instead of drifting away from it. :D_**

 ** _Again, I may not be on here all the time, so occasionally I'll throw it out there that I have a Tumblr I have been using frequently, under "_** _devoted-seoul_ ** _" if you'd like to chat it up with me or anything._**

 ** _Thank you so much, again, for your time! Reviews are always welcome. ;D I'll see you guys at the next chapter!_**

 ** _\- LostInnocenz_**


	17. Last Minute Decisions

**Chapter 17: Last Minute Decisions**

Sans awoke from a relatively easy-going dream. He felt a weight on his left arm and looked over lazily. Ebony was sound asleep, snuggled up against his side and clutching onto him by his fluffy coat. The girl was snoring softly, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her lips. It was damn adorable. Reaching over to push the soft brown hair from Ebony's face, Sans smiled as well. He had never seen the human look so at ease before.

Hearing a small creak nearby, Sans eventually noticed Frisk at the doorway just holding a big plate. How long was the kid there?

"Uhm, I have snail pie for you guys," whispered Frisk as he stepped into his room. The two adults had monopolized his room, but he didn't seem to mind much.

Sans cringed a little when he saw what was on the plate but grinned anyway from his spot on the bed as he answered quietly. "Er, no thanks, kiddo. My compliments to the chef, though." Snails weren't really his thing... Slimy little weirdos in their faux houses.

Frisk set the huge slice of pie down onto his nightstand and turned to face Sans. Suddenly, the young boy remembered something and put a finger to his chin. "Undyne wanted to talk to you, by the way."

"I'll go see what's up. Thanks, bud."

The teenager beamed and nodded, then sneaked back out of the room. Sans then stretched a little and cracked a few joints with a satisfied sigh, taking care not to wake his sleeping girlfriend. He eased himself from the girl's grasp and got to his feet, sliding into his pink fuzzy slippers, then watched his girl sleep a while longer before reluctantly teleporting away.

* * *

"So where's a good place to go if you're up there?"

"I have gone to this _wonderful_ music shop. They have so many different types of instruments; it is such a treat to walk in there!"

"Okay, so maybe something to play. But she usually _sings_ at home! So I dunno how that would work. How about something she can use whenever she wants?"

"Oh my, I did not know she could sing! She must sound so pleasant. But you are correct, I suppose."

Sans stepped into the living room and found Undyne having a very focused conversation with Toriel by the fireplace. Toriel was a goat monster. In fact, she was actually a Boss Monster; as was her also-goat husband, Asgore. The couple could be formidable opponents - and rightly so - but normally chose not to have conflicts unless they were deemed necessary. Asgore and Toriel towered over most monsters who lived Underground. They were big Boss Monsters, but probably also had the biggest hearts. The two were once the King and Queen of monsters, but they eventually stopped using the titles since the Barrier had finally opened. It just didn't fit too well after that for some reason, but majority of the subjects Underground still preferred to treat their former rulers with well-deserved respect and deference.

Looking over to his own little brother, Sans noticed that Papyrus was speaking with animated expressions and trying to explain something to the former King, who sat across from the tall skeleton at the table with a look of understanding as he stroked his blonde beard. Frisk was sitting at the table quietly and watched Papyrus and Asgore with a smile, his legs dangling from the chair he was in.

"Yes, I suppose we _could_ have use for an official chef. What kinds of things do you cook?" Asgore lifted his small cup of hot Golden Flower tea and sipped politely at it.

"I AM GLAD YOU ASKED, YOUR HIGHNESS!" Papyrus puffed out his chest and stood up from his seat excitedly. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM A MASTER AND CONNOISSEUR OF SPAGHETTI!"

"Ah, then I will see how we can make use of such a rare skill, Great Papyrus," Asgore nodded with a serious look on his face. Sans couldn't tell whether the big fuzzy guy was just playing along to be polite or whether he was genuinely going to consider having a personal spaghetti maker. "Now, here is the big question: Can you incorporate _snails_ into your recipe? It is quite a delicacy." Oh god. Not more snails.

"A DELICACY, INDEED! I WILL DO WHAT MUST BE DONE, YOUR MAJESTY!"

"Now, no need for that 'Highness' and 'Majesty' nonsense. I am simply 'Asgore' these days."

Sans cleared his throat; at least loudly enough for the others to pause briefly and look up. Papyrus and Asgore had stopped to greet Sans, but otherwise they continued on with their considerations. Undyne jumped to her feet and threw her arm around the skeleton's bony shoulders, dragging him over to the front of the crackling fireplace where she'd been sitting. Toriel looked up from her book with tiny spectacles sitting on her nose and smiled kindly.

"Good morning, Sans. Did you sleep well? I hope Frisk's bed was not too small for you two."

A tinge of blue rushed over Sans' face as he thought about what had been done in that room, but he shrugged dismissively while still in Undyne's death grip. "Uh, I'd have to say the bed was of _Sans_ -ational quality. Thanks for lettin' us stay the night, Tori."

Toriel burst into laughter at the pun. It wasn't _that_ funny, but Sans still loved when a person could appreciate a good pun every now and then. Undyne's eye, however, twitched noticeably.

"ANYWAYS, I wanted to talk to you, punk!" The fish lady cut in impatiently and let go of Sans as Toriel wiped tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes. "So you and Ebb've been dating, right? How much do you know about her?"

"I hear tell she really appreciates a good musical pun."

" _What?_ Don't tell me that's _ALL_ you know."

"Uhh. . . She makes a lean, mean, green bean casserole?"

"Sans, she's _never_ made that before."

"Yeah, I know." The skeleton grinned and winked at the blue-scaled woman. "Maybe I just felt like rhyming."

" _Sans, what. The. HECK."_ Undyne threw her hands up, exasperated. "Please don't tell me that's all you know! Do you even know her _birthday_?!"

"Undyne, you can't blame me for not knowin' much yet. We've only been dating for a coupla months, y'know?" Sans scratched the back of his head and looked at the floor, feeling slightly embarrassed about his lack of knowledge. He _did_ want to know everything about Ebony.

"Then maybe I should let you know that her birthday is coming up in a month," said the fish lady matter-of-factly. She looked pleased that there was something about her best friend that Sans didn't know. Truth be told, it made Sans feel unreasonably jealous. It should have been _him_ who could easily have told Undyne about his own girlfriend's birthday. "We need to find a birthday present, and as Ebb's boyfriend, I think _you_ should be the one to give it to her." Well, that made things a little better.

"... Had somethin' in mind?" Sans had seen Undyne's one functioning eye shift around the room for a second before she leaned in and whispered her plan.

"Don't tell the others; they might ruin it a little too early. But we should find some present for her on the Surface and maybe. . . even scope out the area for her brother."

Sans' eyes widened at the thought. "The Surface? Do we even use the same kind o' cash that they do up there?" How would he even buy anything for Ebony if he only had G's on-hand? What kind of money did humans even use?

Toriel closed her book and raised her hand. "My dear, no need to worry: I have gone to the Surface occasionally in the past, so I have more than enough money to get us by while we are up there."

"So we go up there, freak out some other humans, get a birthday present for Ebb, and hopefully get lucky and find her brother while we're at it?" Sans paused a while before grinning mischievously. "I dunno, I like the thought of that."

"Keep it a secret, okay? We wanna surprise the big nerd!" Undyne thumped Sans' back with a firm open palm and the skeleton stumbled forward a few steps.

Ebony would be so overjoyed if Sans could find her brother _and_ come back with a birthday present from the Surface. It'd be great to see his girlfriend reunited with her younger brother again instead of worrying over it day after day. The skelebro straightened up and smiled to himself as he tried to work out who would be leaving with him, and when. The idea of going to the Surface - a place he wasn't familiar with one bit - scared him a little, he had to admit. But it was thrilling to go somewhere new for once. Sans didn't care what he had to do. He would _walk_ to the ends of the world if it could truly make Ebony happy.

"Surprises are my forte here."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **And so it seems Sans is willing to venture up to the Surface for Ebony's sake! He's such a sweetie pie. Then we have Ebony, who's still sleeping in Frisk's room as a few select people are plotting a surprise for her birthday! Wonder what kind of gift Sans is gonna get for her?**_

 _ **I'm so very appreciative for the attention my story has been getting, no matter how minor it is. I know I'm not a perfect writer, but this is a really good experience for me. It's very encouraging to have people following the story as I grow here from the ground-up . :)**_

 _ **On a side note... There are a bunch of personal things happening right now and it's really stressing me out, so I haven't been eating/sleeping properly. D:**_

 _ **It really would be great to keep writing, though, so I hope to keep doing that regardless. I have so many different ideas for the story, and I want to push through with what I can because I want to see my ideas out there on pages for others to read.**_

 _ **I'll see you guys at the next chapter. I love you all...!**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	18. Necessary Task

**Chapter 18: Necessary Task**

After much discussion, Undyne reluctantly decided to stay and keep an eye on Ebony in case something were to happen. In the end, Sans went to the Surface with Toriel; thankfully, they made it without much incident on the way to the Underground's entrance. But having to change his clothes in an attempt to 'fit in' a little more while with the humans... It really got his _goat_ that he should have to change for that reason, and he wasn't so sure that it would help him fit in at all. A monster was still a monster, regardless of clothing, but Toriel was insistent upon it. Sans grudgingly complied and changed his outfit as soon as they got up there.

The two strolled into a little posh clothing shop for a change in style. Toriel must have stopped by there every time she visited the Surface. Much to San's surprise, the shopkeeper - a flamboyant young man who went by the name of 'Tobias' - greeted the goat monster warmly and said that she and her little friend could pick what they wanted to use, 'on the house.'

Sans eventually stepped out of his fitting room and now wore sleek, black dress pants that were held up by suspenders. His top went from baggy white t-shirt to a white collared dress shirt that tucked into his pants; the sleeves were rolled up nicely, though they did expose the bones. He left the top couple of buttons alone, so he looked semi-casual. It still seemed a little too dressy for Sans' taste, but he _did_ like the hat at least. It was a soft black fedora with a pinched crown, and the band around it consisted of bird feathers that were dyed a beautiful dark green. The feathers' colors reminded him of Ebony's eyes. It put him at ease to wear something that made him think of his girl. Sans decided that Tobias had a pretty okay taste in hats.

Toriel picked the clothes out for Sans, since he wouldn't have known any better if he had to choose for himself. Per Sans' request, Toriel also picked out another back-up outfit that was a little more casual, in case the skelebro got tired of looking so spiffy all the time. Maybe getting new clothing was for the best. Just before the skelebro left the Ruins, he'd chosen to drape his blue coat over Ebony as she slept on, leaving him with just his loose white shirt and shorts. It felt strange to be without the jacket, but it was reassuring to remind himself that it was in beautiful hands.

Wherever they were going to stay, Sans intended on making time to shoot a picture message over to Ebony via Tori's assistance with his cell phone so he could show off his new outfit. The girl might actually approve of him dressing up, and the thought made Sans a little antsy with anticipation. He wanted to see what his girlfriend thought of the look.

"I believe first impressions mean much more than you can imagine in this world. I learned this much during my past travels up to the Surface," Toriel had said with a waggle of her finger. "We should make ourselves presentable if we are to be among the humans."

The goat woman herself changed as well. The change wasn't drastic, but it was still different. She wore a long, dark purple dress that flowed at the bottom for ease of movement and had a lavender scarf draped over her shoulders to ward off the cold winds that blew occasionally in the city. There were no standard shoe sizes in the human world that could fit her properly, so of course she went without. Purple was definitely Toriel's color, and Tobias complimented her on that. She laughed and said, "Oh please, you flatter an old woman. I thank you for that."

When they finally stepped out of the store, a woman walked past and stared at them. She was staring for too long; as a result, she accidentally tripped on her heels and fell forward. Sans ran over to try and help her up. "Lady, you alright?"

The woman's eyes widened at the sight of a skeleton speaking, and she stumbled off, horrified. Sans looked a little put-off at that, but he grinned and scratched his head as he said, "No 'thanks' here? Guess she couldn't stand the sight of my chiseled features."

Toriel looked apologetically at Sans and bowed her head for a second. "I do apologize, Sans. Humans are not yet used to us, so please understand."

The skeleton shrugged and smiled in response. He knew it was going to be hard, but he was up there for Ebony's sake, and not those other humans. His cell phone vibrated in his pants pocket, so he pulled it out and flipped it open. Speaking of coincidences... It was Ebony.

 **\- Ebb: Sans? Where are you?**

So she finally woke up and noticed her boyfriend was gone. Sans smiled a bit and got to work with responding as Toriel stood by patiently.

 **\- Sans: mornin' love, i've got a job to do now. i hope you like the gift i left you :)**

 **\- Ebb: Your jacket? I got worried and thought you just up and left me. Undyne won't tell me what's going on. Haha.**

 **\- Sans: hey now, i wouldn't do that to you. i'll be back before you know it, my huggalump.**

 **\- Ebb: What the heck? HAH. You dork. :3**

 **\- Sans: i try. i'll text ya later, ok? ;)**

 **\- Ebb: I suppose there's not much of a choice. I love you, Sans!**

 **\- Sans: i love you too, buggaboo.**

He closed his phone and popped it back into his pocket, then adjusted the fedora on his head. "Okay, where to look now?" He was all smiles, and didn't care what anyone else thought of him.

"There are a few shops along this sidewalk; it is referred to as a 'strip mall.' Maybe we can find a nice gift for Ebony here," Toriel supplied, hoisting a beautiful dark purple purse onto her right shoulder. While Sans was texting Ebony, Toriel had decided to step back into the shop to purchase the purse so she could put things inside of it as they went along. She always brought back goodies for all the little ones Underground.

"Huh? Doesn't look like much of a 'strip mall' to me." Sans watched curiously as people walked past the pair, all eyes on them. A couple of the humans actually greeted Toriel. It had become quite apparent now that she was actually a regular of the Surface for some time now, since some of them recognized her. She introduced Sans to the people, and he grinned, raising a hand in greeting. He didn't really bother with anyone else. But where was all the stripping? People were only walking out of shops with bags of things, but aside from the occasional skimpy outfits that women wore, there was no removal of clothing as the term suggested. How... boring. He'd be getting _somewhere_ if Ebony were doing the stripping.

 _God bless her and that_ _ **amazing**_ _body,_ thought Sans with a longing sigh. He needed her by his side, but reminded himself that this surprise was going to be the best.

"Some people call it a 'shopping plaza,'" answered the goat woman, blinking as she examined Sans' expression. "Many people do varying types of business here."

"Uh... Oh. Heh." Sans rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile. "I knew that. Of course. Welp, let's take a look around and see what we can find."

* * *

Ebony rolled around impatiently on the floor in her room with Sans' fluffy blue jacket wrapped around her. So he was working one of his jobs? Boo. The girl must have really been knocked out if she didn't wake up when he left. When she had finally woken up, she was in Undyne's arms, covered up in Sans' coat and being carried home to Waterfall. _Man,_ it seemed that everyone liked carrying her home. She wasn't a particularly heavy girl, but she still felt a little bad about it. It was just not something she liked having many people do for her.

Finally lying flat on her back, the young woman stared up at the ceiling. She shouldn't mope just because her boyfriend wasn't around. Now would actually be the perfect time to gather more information. But... what more information could she have gotten, other than finding out that the Barrier was no longer going to be a problem for her? She could have left already, just like she wanted. One worry, however, was Flowey.

Ebony really did not want to bump into that thing again. Flowey was small, but those roots of his were unpredictable and could come from nowhere. She also wasn't entirely sure what the monster's intentions were by confronting her. Her knife didn't do any good back then. Just thinking about it made the girl shiver uncomfortably, and she squeezed the blue jacket tightly, burying her face into the furry hood. She caught a faint scent of pine and freshly fallen snow; that familiar, calming smell Snowdin always had. It made sense, since Sans was almost always stationed in the area lately. She missed him already.

It was really strange, falling in love with a skeleton. She'd figured that was actually a _good_ thing though, since that meant she could focus more on the type of person he was. And she most definitely loved Sans for who _he_ was.

A knock came at the door, and Undyne came in. "Ebb, d'you wanna go to Grillby's-? ... _What are... you even doing, you nerd?"_

Ebony was still sniffing the soft blue jacket when the fish lady walked in. Ashamed for being caught in the act, the girl sat up quickly with an awkward cough, and the jacket flopped onto her lap. She probably looked really... creeper-like. Oops.

"Uhm... I just sneezed?"

Undyne raised an eyebrow and scratched her head. "I - What. . . Okay. _ANYWAYS,_ you wanna go to Grillby's with me? We can grab a drink or two."

"That's okay; I'll wait up for Sans when he gets back from his job."

"Ah. Right, that..." Undyne grimaced a little, but hid it with a grin. The birthday surprise had to stay a surprise. "Let that punster dweeb do his own thing! He's probably gonna be busy for some time. Why not a girl's night for once, right?"

The young girl contemplated that and eventually agreed to it happily. "Well, that's true. I suppose we can get tipsy together, hehe. It'd be good to see Grillby again, too."

As the two left the house, Ebony greeted the dummy to her right. It always sat there and grumbled, but did what had to be done and took the beatings from Undyne whenever she trained. Today, it was strangely silent. The girl walked up to it and waited for some sort of usual grumpy response, but turned and ran off when her roommate called out for her. The dummy probably didn't feel like talking.

"So Ebb, what do you wanna do for your birthday?" Undyne tried to casually put her hands behind her head as she walked alongside her good friend.

Ebony had decided to bring Sans' jacket along and pulled it on as she and Undyne headed for the bar in Snowdin. The jacket had fit her nicely and loosely; it was the way she always loved her own coats when she lived on the Surface during the cold seasons.

"I wasn't thinking of doing much, since nothing ever really happens on my birthdays," began the girl thoughtfully. She tapped at her collarbone with the tips of her right hand's fingers as she tried to come up with an answer. "I was actually hoping to make it to the Surface and find my brother before that rolls around. Finally being with my brother and having my birthday; that'd be a great combination, don't you think?"

Undyne was a little hurt that Ebony's first choice of celebration wasn't to be with her friends. But... it did make sense for the human to want to celebrate her birthday with her little brother. She couldn't be blamed. "If you find your brother, you're both... more than welcome to celebrate down here, with everyone! I'm curious about the little squirt."

"That 'little squirt' is the smartest kid I know. He's the total opposite of me; I'm all sorts of fucked up." The girl looked upward with a weak smile, but her green eyes shone brightly with pride when she thought of her brother. "He's the only left handed one in our family; or what's left of our 'family,' anyway. He's definitely a very talented teen. He's also really good with math; he could have gone to school for it, but the kids there always bullied him since he had a pretty face and looked more feminine than anything, and he didn't have parents to cry to. I didn't know about it for a while, at least until I started noticing cuts and bruises on him, but it was only because he didn't openly bring it up with me... So I started teaching him basic core stuff at home instead; at least, the stuff I remembered before dropping out myself. And like I told you before, he was taking piano lessons with the money I earned in the past and he had become much more comfortable with playing since then. I used to sing along with him in a studio on the Surface whenever he decided to play. And despite all the shit we went through, he was definitely the most happiest of the both of us."

Ebony stopped when she and Undyne reached the snow that signaled to them the end of Waterfall and the beginning of Snowdin. "I wanna find Brenn, and I'd be more than happy to have him meet everyone if he doesn't freak out over the fact that you're all monsters. I just... I'm afraid to find him, too."

Undyne was confused about that. Normally when you want to find a loved one, it'd be because you know you'd be happy after finding them. But to feel fear instead? She didn't quite get it. They reached Grillby's and Ebony's hand rested on the doorknob only for a moment.

"It's been two years already, so... I'm just really scared that I'll finally get a lead on him, only to find out he's dead or something terrifying like that. I guess I'm just _that_ fucked up to think that first anyways. I know."

Ebony had spoken softly, a sad and uneasy look flitting across her face, and Undyne had almost missed what was said. But before anything else transpired, the girl opened the door and let Undyne in first. The other monsters in the bar paused and a couple of them piped in, greeting Undyne. Ebony noticed they did keep their distance a little, though. It was probably due to Undyne's reckless reputation. Grillby heard the jangle of the bell that hung above his door's entrance and soon found himself face-to-face with Ebony, who sat down in one of the stools with a smile.

"Hello, darling. It has been quite some time since your last visit," Grillby said smoothly, greeting the girl with a level gaze. The flame monster spoke softly enough so only Ebony could hear, and Undyne plopped into a chair next to the human as the bartender smirked, reaching under the counter for two shot glasses. "Come for more love?"

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Thank you so much for your patience, guys! I've been non-stop running around, and now I'm going into my third week of non-stop WORK. My day off won't be until the 30th, so I legitimately worked for pretty much a full month without an actual day off. The sad life of a person who lives in Hawai'i with crazy cost of living prices. I can officially say I am a workaholic, I guess? UGH.**_

 _ **ALSO, to those of you who have been adding me to their alerts/favourites while I was out of commission, I am once again extremely thankful for the love. My best friend also spent her time on Skype with me tonight from Michigan and literally read through all the chapters that I have posted so far as we caught up with each other, and I loved seeing her reactions. It gives me an idea of what went well when I was writing, y'know? That's why I love reviews just as much! :D**_

 _ **Anyway, now we can get a mini glimpse at what it's lookin' like on the Surface for two innocent monsters! Some humans are welcoming and kind, but most are obviously fearful of the slowly-increasing number of monsters who are coming up from Underground. I have so much in mind from here-on out, so please bear with me for a couple of days until I get more ideas down!**_

 _ **I'll see you guys at the next chapter~! :)**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	19. A Chain Of Disappointments

**Chapter 19: A Chain Of Disappointments**

Oh, that temptation was there for sure. There was no way Ebony could avoid Grillby's gaze as he greeted her with that smirk. Yes, it was a while since they had fucked in the bar. But the girl had Sans now, and there was nothing that could deter her from the relationship she was in. Sans would never abandon her, and she had no intention of ditching him now. Undyne saved her the trouble of speaking by butting in with a "Yeah, we're here while Sans is away for work... They've hooked up already. You can clearly see that with the jacket Ebb's got. Now can we have a couple of shots?"

Grillby frowned disapprovingly at Undyne's attitude but went to work with pouring some booze for the two girls. Ebony mouthed a 'thank you' and quickly flashed a grateful smile in Undyne's direction while she pushed her hands into her big jacket pockets.

"So what's the scoop these days?" asked Undyne as she leaned forward onto the countertop with her elbows. It wasn't until she received her alcohol that she decided to sit down on the stool next to Ebony's. The fiery bartender didn't say much at first as he stared at Ebony, which made her squirm, but then he finally opened his mouth.

"There has been talk of some monsters going missing recently. Their families are growing sick with worry," Grillby answered solemnly. He was no longer smirking, but he still shot a look in Ebony's direction as he pushed his glasses back up on his face. With sudden realization, the girl now understood what the man was looking at. He hadn't known until just then that she had hooked up with Sans.

"Ebony, do you mind if we have a little chat in the back?"

 _Shit._

"Uh... Yeah, sure. " Ebony tugged anxiously at the tattered scarf around her neck and got to her feet, bringing the shot of alcohol with her. After reassuring Undyne that it would be fine, the girl followed Grillby into the kitchen. She took a look around from there. The kitchen was surprisingly very quaint, with the most basic of utensils hanging against the wall for easy access. She assumed that Grillby was the one who provided the actual 'cooking' part, especially when you consider that he was a flame monster. Regardless, there sat a conventional oven and stove against one of the walls. Even in that room, the cinnamon scent that Ebony liked so much lingered in the air. The weird part was that, of course, the scent of burgers and fries could be detected as well. Ebony stepped over to the stainless work table in the middle of the kitchen and leaned back against it, all while nursing her alcohol with tiny sips here and there.

"So what'd you need to talk about?" The girl gave a nervous smile and made herself comfortable in the kitchen; Grillby strode over to her soon after. The monster trailed his flaming hand up Ebony's arm, casting a warm orange-yellow glow against her blue jacket and making it look almost gray as the colors mixed with each other. Ebony could feel the heat from Grillby's hand through the jacket. The man then placed both his hands on either side of the girl on the edge of the table and moved awfully close to her, dipping his head down so he could speak softly into her ear. She could practically taste the cinnamon smell that hung around by Grillby's chest.

"I suppose I need to talk about two things, really. Firstly..." The bartender opened his mouth and a flaming tongue flicked out against Ebony's earlobe, drawing out a small gasp of surprise from her. "It seems... you are taken by Sans. Are you, now?"

"Yes, I am." Ebony gulped and tried to speak calmly, but stiffened when Grillby used one of his fingers to tug at the bottom of Sans' jacket. "It's been... like a couple months or so already."

Grillby sighed into her ear and casually slipped a hand under the fluffy jacket, heat meeting warm skin in seconds as he caressed her waist. The girl shivered involuntarily and shut her eyes, struggling to keep from melting under the man's touch. "Oh my, such a shame... What are we going to do about that meddlesome tab you've so _graciously_ left open months ago?"

 _Holy fuck on a fuckstick, what is he doing to me? No. Nono_ _ **no**_ _, I need to be courteous about this and I need to let him know that I just can't,_ Ebony thought to herself, all thoughts of lust and denial swirling around in her head. She could hear the desperate hunger in the man's voice, and immediately felt drawn in by that. Hot damn. That influence of his would consume her one day. Grillby used his long leg to slowly push his way between her own legs, trailing his searing tongue up her neck. The girl bit back a moan and could feel her heart racing already as she promptly tried to push him away. He didn't budge from the weak force, but he also had withdrawn his tongue and breathed lightly against her skin, pausing in his advances.

"I... Grillby, I can't-" Ebony shook her head, her body shaking as she kept both palms open against the flaming man's chest.

" _I know._ " Grillby let out a soft growl of frustration that shook the girl to her core. God, she loved when the monsters growled Underground. There was just something so _raw_ about the sound that she liked for some reason. This was the first time she had heard him so very... agitated. Ebony looked up at Grillby and found him massaging his temple with his right hand. Why was he...?

"I know you can't do this," the man continued with a shaky sigh. He was trying to regain his usual cool composure, but was having obvious difficulties with that. "But do you have any idea how I felt when you stopped showing up suddenly? Can you _tell_ me? Because I don't understand what it is I'm feeling right now. And now I must find out here that you haven't been coming to the bar because a damn regular of mine has taken you for himself."

 _Holy shit. Is he... **infatuated**_ _with me? Does he not know what that is? ... Is that why he's freaking out?_

Ebony's green eyes widened when she saw the disheartened look in Grillby's eyes. Oh, damn.

The bartender let out another low growl and slammed the tabletop behind Ebony with his left hand, making the girl jump where she stood. "I haven't had a good fuck in months, and have been giving up all my other tabs with everyone else. I didn't even know what had compelled me to do such a foolish thing. But there was something more that I desired, and I couldn't even put my finger on it. Not until you walked in today. And now it has dawned on me: _You_..."

"I... Me?" Ebony's heart was pounding frantically now. "You're just sexually frustrated, I totally get it- -"

" _ **You**_ _are the one I want to fuck senseless."_ Grillby's body heat intensified as he pulled the girl closer to him, until they were no longer separated by distance. Ebony's brain threatened to go into overload as she felt the man's huge, swollen member pressing against her through his pants, and she could have sworn she was quickly reaching the point of hyper-ventilation. "And it's more than that. It seems I have developed a silly kind of _*feeling*_ for you, Ebony. It has become more than just this need to continue the tab with you. I have begun to nurture these urges to kiss, to hug, to... Dear _god_ , I don't bloody _know_. All I know is that... _I have a great dislike for what Undyne just told me about you and Sans_."

Both human and flame monster stared at each other after that; Grillby, who was panting softly as he held the girl in his intense gaze, and Ebony, who was having quite a difficult time breathing at that point. Before Ebony could construct some sort of response, her phone went off and made a few rhythmic clicking noises, and it startled the both of them. She had her text messages set up to sound like a metronome, and it sounded like she had received a few messages, one after the other. Grillby stepped away and grudgingly allowed the girl her privacy as she took her phone out to check for the messages.

 **CaptCrunch: Ebb?**

 **CaptCrunch: Ebb, you ok? ? ?**

 **CaptCrunch: Hey! Answer me!**

 **CaptCrunch: If I need to clock a dickwad in the face, you let me know! !**

What an impatient fish woman. Ebony couldn't help smiling whenever she saw texts from Undyne. It's not every day you have a chance to become friends with someone who was a captain of anything. Of _course_ she had to save Undyne's contact number with that name.

 **Ebony: We're all good here. Grillby was |**

Before the brown haired girl could finish the text, the kitchen door slammed open and there stood Undyne with arms folded. " _EBB? If I need to clock the guy, you_ _ **NEED**_ _to tell me! You take too long!"_

Grillby stared at Undyne, and Ebony had her thumb hovering over the next letter that she was about to hit on her phone. An impatient woman, indeed. But at least Undyne cared enough to be protective in the first place. Ebony really loved her best friend, as awkward as the lady was sometimes.

"No one needs to be 'clocked' here, as you're putting it," Grillby said coolly. He fixed his rolled sleeves, forced himself to regain his composure, and cleared his throat into a closed fist. Before heading back into the bar, he spoke softly to Ebony with a faint smile. "If things don't quite work out the way you want them to with the skeleton, rest assured I will always be here, love."

The girl swallowed hard and watched as the tall bartender left the two girls in the kitchen to continue serving his other customers. But he mentioned there were two things he needed to talk about.

What was the other thing?

* * *

After much walking around in the strip mall, Toriel found some souvenirs and snacks to bring back for all the little ones Underground. To Sans' dismay, however, they were unable to find a gift for Ebony. Perhaps it just seemed too easy at first, but nothing they came across was to the skelebro's satisfaction. The sun was already hanging low in the sky, creating a breathtaking mixture of all sorts of warm colors that Sans had never seen before. He was in total awe over it, and Toriel admired the sky alongside him. The woman had already been up there a good number of times, but the beauty of nature on the Surface was a rare sight when compared to the Underground. There was always time to appreciate the vision.

"Aw geez, if only I could pocket all this amazing stuff for her. But she's probably seen it a thousand times already," lamented Sans with a weary sigh. He pulled off his fedora while gazing up at the sky and blankly stroked the dark green feathers that encircled the hat. "We couldn't find anything today... Ugh. I'd give her the world if I could."

"I know you would," Toriel agreed easily. She placed a big furry hand on Sans' shoulder and tried to reassure him. "Do not worry, Sans: It is only day one. There will be plenty of time to discover the perfect gift for her. Shall we make way for the hotel and turn in for the night? Perhaps we can take a different approach and look for Ebony's brother tomorrow. If the child was in a coma while Ebony was up here, he may be in a hospital nearby."

That was definitely an uplifting thought. Maybe they _could_ find Brennivin. The two walked in silence for a while before the skeleton finally spoke up.

"Yeah, guess you're right. Think you can help me take a pic when we get there, Tori? I'm pretty sure Ebb'll appreciate what you picked out for me." Sans was eager to send Ebony a picture of the outfit he was wearing. He knew that her response would cheer him up even more, and if he didn't need cheering up the most at that exact moment, he didn't know when would have been better.

"Of course, my little friend," the goat woman said with a knowing smile. "You really are in love with that child, are you not?"

The skeleton's face flushed blue with embarrassment. He lifted the fedora up subconsciously to hide the lower half of his face, but he gave a quick nod. "Yeah well, I don't know how she fell for me and all my weirdness, but I really love Ebb. 'S the only reason why I'm up here in the first place; otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered coming up to the Surface any time soon."

"She is a good girl. You could say that you two make quite a nice _pear._ " Toriel grinned and gave an elbow jab to the skeleton's shoulder.

Sans snorted and turned the corner with the woman while supplying his own pun in response. "That was a pretty _clef_ -er one, Tori."

The goat monster guffawed at that, and the two monsters walked on the sidewalk toward their hotel while shooting puns at each other and tittering like schoolgirls. They didn't really notice two humans who were tailing them. At least, not until they neared the hotel entrance. One of them approached the two monsters from the front, and another came up behind them, but stayed hidden in the shadows. Toriel stopped and stared quizzically at the human before her. It was an adult male with short cropped hair, a tanktop, and basketball shorts, perhaps nearing his mid-20s.

"Hello, sir. Is everything alright? Perhaps you are lost?" The goat-mom greeted the stranger kindly and bowed slightly. Sans was feeling the complete opposite. He could sense something very negative emanating from both humans' souls. The skeleton whirled around and faced the man who stood behind them with a wary glare.

The second human had his dark hair up in a messy man-bun and wore a loose shirt with blue skinny jeans. Sans caught sight of the switchblade in the man's hand when it glinted under the streetlamp and he tensed up immediately, holding a hand out just in case. His left eye flared an intense cobalt blue as he summoned up his magic energy, and the human he was facing panicked and took a step back while brandishing the blade. "Tori, I don't think the saps wanna talk much with us."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Hi, everyone! Is everyone reading this stuff alright? I hope it's not too confusing. How are you all? I miss you guys already. :D**_

 _ **This had to be typed in between my breaks whenever I don't have internet access to work with. It makes me so happy to see that I have over 1,000 people who have viewed my fanfiction. Thank you so very much. This is the first story I'm typing up by myself, and so I get really excited when I see that people are following all the efforts I'm putting in to this.**_

 _ **Well, things got awfully awkward with Grillby and Ebony. Seems he isn't so happy about the new pairing that has blossomed Underground. :(**_

 _ **Undyne is being the best friend Ebony could ever ask for. Cock blocking for good reason; sorry, Grillbz! Let's hope Sans doesn't find out about what had just happened.**_

 _ **I hope you guys are still following along! I'll see you guys at the next chapter. Please don't be afraid to shoot me a message if you have any questions!**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	20. Side Story: Date Night, Part 1

**Side Story: Date Night, Part 1  
**

The television star readied himself in his fitting room, brushing at his short hair and watching himself in the mirror with a wink. Papyrus shuffled awkwardly into the room, causing the robot to watch from his mirror with a raised brow.

"UHM... ARE YOU SURE THIS IS OKAY, METTATON?" Papyrus tugged anxiously at the long bone-patterned tie that he had accidentally tangled up around his neck and looked up at Mettaton with an uncertain frown. "THIS THING KEEPS TRYING TO FIGHT WITH ME!"

Papyrus wore a nice dress shirt; it was a bright red that shouted its existence from underneath the fitted black suit. On the wrists of his shirt, he had the cutest skull cuff links. The tie that he had so gracefully tried to put on was similar to the shade of charcoal. The bone-print all along it was a shimmering silver.

"Oh, I've got you covered, darling." The heat rushed up to the robot's face as he stood a little too hurriedly to assist the skelebro with the tie. The brush Mettaton had been using was promptly abandoned, sounding a small protest in the form of a clatter when it hit the floor. As he untangled the bothersome piece of piece of fabric from Papyrus' neck to redo it, Mettaton peeked up and carefully examined the other monster's frame. The lanky skeleton looked _especially_ suave while in that black suit. Oh, my. . . "Well, aren't _you_ Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome!"

Mettaton had, of course, also dressed up for the occasion. He had thrown on his own sleek black suit with a pink tie, along with boots that came with platform-like heels, but most of the outfit was covered anyway with the voluptuous mink coat that he had slipped on. It was big and quite ostentatious; it could almost pass as a creature all its own with that much fur. All around the collar and the ends of his sleeves poofed outward with the fluffiest fur, looking all the world like clouds in the dusk; the remainder of the coat was sheared as close to the pelt as possible, all while retaining the sheer softness and shine. It was all-over very stylish. The robot only wanted the finest things Underground.

And Papyrus was indeed _the_ finest thing around.

It was hard to tell why the robot felt so strongly about that. Papyrus was a little ditzy and perhaps a bit too bubbly sometimes. He wasn't the sharpest needle in the pine tree, but he still somehow managed to become the brightest star in Mettaton's sky. And yet, the skeleton was so damn _dense._

"WOWIE, THANK YOU! I DON'T GET TO DRESS UP MUCH." Papyrus ran his hand across the top of his smooth skull and grinned sheepishly. He wasn't wearing his usual bulky-red gloves; tonight, he was wearing silky white gloves that hugged each of his fingers perfectly. Mettaton pulled away and examined his completed handiwork around the skelebro's bony neck; his mechanical heart leapt out of his chest when he watched the skeleton blush a faint orange. "THIS IS SO FABULOUS, METTATON. IT'S SUCH AN HONOR GETTING SO MANY CHANCES TO GO ON THESE 'DATES' WITH YOU! I THINK WE'RE BECOMING BETTER FRIENDS ALREADY!"

Papyrus was beginning to say the word 'fabulous' lately, and Mettaton assumed it was due to his own influence. It was going to appear in conversation a little more frequently thanks to all their 'dates.'

"Ah... Yeah. 'Friends,'" agreed Mettaton with a wave of his hand. He didn't care about being 'friends.' He wanted Papyrus on an entirely different level. "I'd honestly like to believe we're more 'boyfriends.' You know: Boys... who are ' _friends_.'"

"YES, WELL. . ." Papyrus scratched at his cheekbone with an index finger. Well, it did make sense. They were both boys, and yes, they were indeed friends. At that conclusion, the skelebro nodded enthusiastically and Mettaton couldn't help beaming happily. The robot knew that the way he put it was kind of deceptive, and that Papyrus was thinking the total opposite, but it would suffice for now. He would truly get the skelebro's heart one day.

Finally, Mettaton straightened himself and hooked his arm around Papyrus' arm, leading the skeleton to the mirror on the vanity. The robot checked them out in the reflection and winked, satisfied with himself. "My dear, I think we look _amazing_ tonight. Now, let us head for the resort!"

As the two left the room and strolled casually along, making way for MTT Resort, Mettaton decided to strike up a conversation. " _SO,_ my dearest Papyrus, what has been keeping you so busy lately? I haven't seen you for _days._ "

Papyrus' smiling face scrunched up momentarily as Mettaton spoke. Had it really been days? Maybe he had been so busy with creating different pasta recipes in an attempt to please the King and Queen's taste buds, but he wasn't so sure any more. "AH, BUT THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS BUSY! JUST LIKE YOU, METTA! I AM SO CLOSE TO COMING UP WITH THE PERFECT SPAGHETTI RECIPE FOR KING ASGORE. HE WISHES TO INCLUDE SNAILS IN HIS DIET AND WANTS NEW PASTA IDEAS. AND WHO BETTER TO ASK THAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS HIMSELF? BY THE WAY, METTA, IT HASN'T BEEN 'DAYS'; I'M PRETTY SURE IT'S REALLY ONLY BEEN TWO WEEKS AND **ONE** DAY."

"But a week _has_ days - Never mind, love." Mettaton slapped his own face with his free hand and was about to say something, but kept his tongue in check. Why was he in love with such a handsome bonehead? "Well, that is just _wonderful_ , Pappy _._ Would you like to know how I've been doing?" Both robot and skeleton soon made it to MTT Resort, and as they stepped inside, they were greeted by the small monster who stood at the entrance.

"OH, I'M SURE YOU'VE BEEN SUPER BUSY, SINCE YOU'RE FAMOUS AND ALL," answered Papyrus with a nod of understanding. He waved at the greeter, but was pulled along by the robot before he could get a wave in return. "I CAN'T IMAGINE THE EFFORT IT MUST'VE TAKEN FOR YOU TO HANG OUT WITH ME TODAY!"

"Ah yes, I've been _dreadfully_ busy, love. It was so hard to make an opening for this date." Mettaton held the back of his hand up to his forehead with a dramatic sigh. It really didn't take him much; all he did was leave his poor producer behind and say that he was going to take the rest of the day off. He would always make time for Papyrus. "It's such a wonder my skin stays so beautifully hydrated despite everything!"

"UH... RIGHT! I DON'T REALLY HAVE SKIN, SO I CAN'T REALLY SAY WHETHER I CAN AGREE. BUT YES, YOUR SKIN IS INDEED BEAUTIFUL!" The skeleton stopped at the water fountain and noticed that there was a huge sign straight ahead that said 'CORE' in red neon lights. To the left of that pathway was a monster whose head was that of a huge hand. Mettaton examined his associate's hand. At least their nails were painted and manicured today. To the right, there was a sign that read 'MTT' with an image of a burger above a sliding door. "GEE, IS THAT WHERE WE'RE EATING?"

 _"No, Pappy, that's not where we're-"_ Mettaton raised a hand out to try and stop Papyrus, but was too late. The robot facepalmed once more and hesitantly followed after his date.

Papyrus had run over to the sliding door and watched with widened eyes as it opened up before him. "WOWIE, SANS WOULD **LOVE** DOORS THAT OPEN FOR HIM. HE'S TOO LAZY TO OPEN THE DOOR TO OUR OWN HOUSE!" He noticed there stood a rather unattractive cat creature in uniform. It _looked_ like a cat, but it was difficult for the skelebro to tell.

"Welcome to MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Glamburger. Sparkle up your day. . . TM." The monster spoke in a dull voice and could be seen slouching on the other side of the counter. His expression quickly transformed into that of horror when Mettaton stepped in. "Uh... _ohgod_. Hey, Boss! What brings you in today?"

"Hel- _lo_ , Burgerpants. Pappy, as I was _saying,_ this greasy place is not where we're eating," Mettaton interjected with a stiff smile.

"WAIT, METTA!" Papyrus was too hyped up already. He jabbed an index finger at the menu that hung behind the cashier. "THEY HAVE A SANDWICH CALLED ' **LEGENDARY HERO** '? AS MUCH AS I DISLIKE GREASY BURGERS, THIS NAME CALLS OUT TO **ME** , THE GREAT PAPYRUS! CAT-BEAR FRIEND, I MUST HAVE THIS!

Mettaton giggled behind his hand and nodded when the skeleton turned with excitement to look at the robot. As soon as Papyrus faced the menu again, Mettaton locked eyes with the cat monster and glared daggers, adopting an expression that said, "We are _NOT_ eating here, and so help me if you sell one thing to this dashing skeleton at all, I will cut your pay so badly you will be eating the crumbs off of my fabulous shoes for the next few years."

Or at least, that's what Burgerpants interpreted it as. It may as well have been that anyways, knowing his boss. His eyes twitched uncontrollably and he began to sweat bullets as he forced a smile. "Oh uh, hey tall buddy. This isn't the kind of place for you. There's a restaurant just around the corner that'll probably suit your taste better-"

"THEY HAVE A **STEAK IN THE SHAPE OF YOUR FACE** _?_! METTA, THAT'S AMAZING!"

"This food is uh, for babies. It tastes like baby food. Real gross if you ask me, especially with all the sequins. You could die if you eat too many sequins. Or uh, if you eat any at all." Burgerpants was panicking at this point. With each statement he made, Mettaton's face grew more furious and offended. What was the poor guy supposed to do? If he put down the food that his own boss came up with, he would get stepped on. If he _didn't_ say anything and let the skelebro buy something, he would get stepped on. It was official: Burgerpants was totally beyond saving. " _Just don't buy anything. PLEASE, BUDDY._ "

"Well, you heard the thing," Mettaton said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "This place isn't fit for you to dine at, Pappy. Let's go to the _other_ restaurant."

Papyrus nodded hesitantly and followed the robot out of the fast food restaurant. Mettaton turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Burgerpants with a frown. He would talk to the incompetent worker later.

"I'm only 19 years old and I'm wasting my life away here for a boss whom I don't understand one bit. I'm never going to work for another attractive person again. Fuck my messed up priorities, and god help me." Burgerpants let out a huge sigh, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. As he took a drag of the addiction stick, he stared blankly at the entrance as the doors closed.

"Welp, guess I'll practice my acting some more."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **If I can go and get a super nice dress shirt from somewhere like EXPRESS or whatever, I would totally wear skull cuff links. Have you seen them?! They look so amazing. Oh damn, now I wanna go get this nice stuff so I can do a shoot with it. Please expect skull cuff links one day. It's such a tiny accessory, but I've been so in love with the thought of wearing extremely fabulous stuff lately. We all have a bit of Mettaton in us, I suppose. Even though I denied it for years! :D**_

 _ ***ahem.***_

 _ **At any rate, I thought I'd do a quick side story because don't we all wanna know how Paps is doing while Sans is dealing with his own long-winded thing? I sure as heck wanted to know. Ehehe. :3**_

 _ **It's short, but I hope you enjoy! Please look forward to the actual next chapter, ahaha!**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz.**_

 _ ***** EDIT: My best friend is requesting that I complete this date with Metta and Paps, so how about I go and do that? It'll have to be in the next chapter though, so I'm super sorry! How many of you would like to see the rest of the date? ;)**_

 _ **Don't you worry, I'll get to Sans and the others after. I *did* feel that I went and left business unfinished, so per my Oreo's request, it is highly likely that I will make a part two for the sake of completion with the date. Still, it'd be great to hear what you guys think! :D**_


	21. Side Story: Date Night, Part 2

**Side Story: Date Night, Part 2**

There were very few monsters that night at the dimly lit restaurant; one stood at the far corner by itself, apparently mumbling things, but nobody wanted to go near it. Two other monsters sat at the table closest to the stage. Papyrus tried to check in with the big green fish creature at the counter, but the thing only made confusing burbling noises and stared back with a silly smile. Mettaton pushed the skeleton to go sit at a table and did the checking in.

"Yes, I've made a reservation for two..."

Papyrus decided to occupy one of the tables nearby the stage as well, waving enthusiastically at the two other monsters who were sitting and drinking behind him. The strangers looked at each other and waved back hesitantly. Mettaton joined soon after and sat down with Papyrus. The corpulent green monster squeezed out from behind its counter somehow and waddled over slowly, holding two menus. It set down both menus at the same snail's pace, with bits of green residue still stuck on the corner. Then it bowed and waited for them to order. Mettaton grabbed a clean corner of the menu with a distasteful expression and reached over for a napkin to wipe the goo off with. Papyrus tilted his head and watched all the while, until the robot finally sighed.

"So, darling, what will you be ordering tonight?"

Papyrus brightened at the question and took a look, his white gloved finger skimming smoothly over the laminated menu until he found the 'Pasta' section. Mettaton shivered as he pictured that same finger running up his back. When Papyrus gasped delightedly and held a hand up to his face, the robot snapped out of his reverie.

"NYEHEHEHEHE! THEY HAVE YOUR STEAK IN **HERE** AS WELL. YOU ARE DEFINITELY THE MOST FAMOUS-ER OF FAMOUS PEOPLE!" Papyrus scrutinized the fine print and finally decided what he was going to order. "THEY LET YOU ORDER THE STEAK WITH A SIDE ORDER OF PASTA? THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED 'SEH. . . KWINS'. . . THAT COMES WITH THE SAUCE. THAT IS BRILLIANT. I WILL ORDER THIS! HOW ABOUT YOU, METTA?"

 _I want an order of_ _ **you.**_

Mettaton coughed politely into his fist and made a show of looking at the menu from all directions and angles before stating, "I believe I shall have some Starfait tonight; my appetite is _very_ delicate, and I would very much prefer to talk with you instead." He handed the two menus back to the fishy waiter and it shuffled away to put in the order as the pair sat in a strange silence; eventually, Mettaton seemed to remember something and he reached into his suit for a moment. Papyrus blinked and watched as his date pulled out an obscene handful of index cards with words written on them.

"Uhm... What is your... favourite color?" The robot read off of a card he had randomly picked and peered up awkwardly at his date.

"ME? I THINK IT WOULD HAVE TO BE **RED**!" The skeleton answered in a heartbeat and grinned. There was another silence after Mettaton smiled, and then he fumbled for another index card to read.

"So... if you had to pick a scene from 'My Fair Canary' on MTT Network, what would you choose and why?" What was he even doing? He never needed conversation cards before, but it was as he thought; it was difficult for him to say anything properly himself once he finally got to sit down with that handsome dork.

"OH! I LOVE THE PART WHEN VIVIAN REALIZED HOW MUCH SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH LIAM AND RAN AFTER HIM TO TRY AND WIN HIS HEART!" Papyrus was automatically in tears just remembering the scene, and he wiped his eyes. "IT WAS SAD BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T EVEN THINK SHE WAS IN LOVE WITH HIM UNTIL HE WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE. HE TOLD HER THAT HE WAS GOING TO BECOME THE SHERIFF OF ANOTHER TOWN, AND SHE DECIDED TO GO WHEREVER HE WENT! I THINK IT WAS WELL WRITTEN. I REALLY LOVE YOUR SHOWS, METTA!"

Wow. He watched that show? The skelebro was really into it. His eagerness embarrassed the robot ten-fold.

"Do you... really like my shows that much?"

 _Everyone_ liked watching MTT Network; there was no question about that. Who didn't like his stuff? It was the only television network broadcasting Underground, so there wasn't much of a choice. However, he always loved giving the viewers what they wanted to see. That's why there were so many different kinds of shows. He loved taking calls from viewers to hear what they thought of his content. But an opinion felt much more important, coming from Papyrus. Mettaton felt his mechanical heart working in double time.

Papyrus nodded excitedly and reached over to put his gloved hands on Mettaton's hands. The robot immediately blushed and held tight to his conversation cards. "I ALSO AM IN LOVE WITH YOUR COOKING SHOWS! REMEMBER THE LAST TIME WE HUNG OUT? YOU TAUGHT ME HOW TO MAKE CAKE FROM ONE OF YOUR EPISODES. UNDYNE AND I BAKED ONE TOGETHER A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO, AND IT WAS JUST FABULOUS! I ALWAYS MAKE SPAGHETTI; I NEVER DREAMED BAKING CAKE WOULD BE POSSIBLE, EVEN FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! METTATON, YOUR SHOWS GIVE ALL MONSTERS SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO. YOU GIVE THEM HOPE."

The skeleton looked down at his own hands and paused, blushing faintly from embarrassment as well. "YOU... YOU GIVE **ME** HOPE. YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING WHEN I SEE YOU ON TV."

Mettaton's heart skipped a beat. He had never seen the adorable bonehead speak so much before that night. He could tell Papyrus was just as nervous, if not more-so. Before another word could be said, the big fish waiter came wobbling back with their food, and left just as slowly. Papyrus removed his hands from the tabletop to make room for their dinner. As the huge thing went back to its spot behind the counter, a small monster came up onto the stage and began to introduce himself; it seemed he would be cracking jokes for everyone that night.

Papyrus picked at his food with his fork and tried some of the pasta first. The food was great, but he was obviously a little distracted now. He then turned his head as he watched the poor comedian nervously make some jokes. The skeleton couldn't help thinking that his elder brother would have done better on stage... As ridiculous as his puns were, the monsters loved Sans regardless.

Mettaton had his fingers wrapped around the spoon and poked the silverware into his Starfait, but didn't consume anything. As a robot, he didn't really need to eat in the first place, lest he short-circuit from putting unwanted matter into his body... But it was still nice to pretend eating for social purposes. He didn't want to have to end up at Alphys' place for another tedious repair visit, just for trying to eat real food. He watched as Papyrus' eyelights brightened while listening to the half-baked comedian on the stage. He examined Papyrus' high cheekbones and slim frame. That a _dork_ able grin. There was no doubt about it: Mettaton loved the lanky skeleton much more than he imagined. And it felt so good to hear that Papyrus supported all of the robot's shows.

The rest of the night went by without much else conversation. There were loud series of claps from Papyrus as he tried to lift the comedian's spirits, and Mettaton just sat across the table, admiring every little thing that the skeleton was doing. The robot's Starfait melted and was beginning to drip over the rim of the cup. Papyrus had consumed most of the steak and all of his pasta. When they were done at the restaurant, Mettaton walked with Papyrus back to Snowdin.

When they reached the skelebros' house, Papyrus scratched his head and then rubbed his own arm. He was clearly nervous. The dates with Mettaton felt much more different than the date he had with Frisk years ago, but he couldn't really say why that was. "UHM, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR ANOTHER GREAT DATE! IT WAS VERY ENJOYABLE. I HOPE WE CAN DO THIS AGAIN!"

"Oh _yes,_ dear. I believe we're going to have more date nights like this in the future! Thank you... for sharing your feelings with me tonight. Please continue to look out for my future shows!" Mettaton leaned over and pecked Papyrus' cheek before walking off happily with a spring in his step. Papyrus stood dumbly in front of his house with a hand held up to his cheek.

He couldn't quite figure out why his mind was racing, grinning like the silly dork that he was as all thoughts led only to the famous robot.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Well, there's part two! Thank you for your patience. *she bows***_

 _ **Their date could have gone sooo many ways, but I'm kind of glad it went this way. Papyrus is still in the phase where he can't seem to tell what love feels like yet. Mettaton is a good respectable chap and is being patient with the cinnamon bun. : )**_

 _ **I feel like I should let everyone know right now that I'm not extremely into BL like a handful of other girls, but it's still cute, and it's still love, so I appreciate it all the same. My best friend was the one who suggested that Metta refer awkwardly to cue cards. I thought it was a weird cute thing that he could attempt while with Papyrus, since he knows he'll get tongue tied. :3**_

 _ **I hope this side chapter was okay! I'll see you guys at the next (actual) chapter. Haha. c:**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	22. Hard Skulls and Hard Hearts

**Chapter 20: Hard Skulls and Hard Hearts**

"Why are there so many of you?" The man with his hair tied up was pointing in Sans' direction with his switchblade while speaking. Perhaps Sans was wrong: This man was actually taking the time to speak to them. "You guys don't even belong here!"

"Hey buddy, I'm not quite sure what _point_ you're tryin' to make here," Sans said as he eyed the blade that poked at the air. "Monsters've been coming up here for some time already; you guys just never noticed."

"Sh-shut up! Man, don't try to reason with _monsters_ , Luke; just kill 'em and let's go! There's way more than just these two that we need to find too!" The first guy with short blonde hair and basketball shorts waved his arm in a panic as he urged his partner, Luke, to take care of the job already. It didn't look like the blonde had a weapon, since he was staring wide-eyed at Toriel as if he were a deer in headlights. He was probably just meant to play the part of a distraction, though if that were the case, he was failing horribly at it. The goat woman easily towered over both men, but she worriedly took a step back. She was going to try to speak to Luke when suddenly he spoke up, his voice high in pitch from anxiety.

"The fuck, Nate?! Why don't _you_ kill 'em, then? Why _I_ gotta do the killin' for all the time?!" Luke sounded tired and worn out. He probably wasn't used to the killing in the first place.

As Luke whined about being given the dirty task of playing murderer, Nate dug into his back pocket and whipped out a gun. Damn. So much for not having a weapon. Nate was obviously fed up with his friend already. "You... You do the killing because I fucking told you to! Or I swear to god I'll kill _you_! D'you have any idea how many I've killed already?! Now do your _fucking_ part, Luke!"

"Please; we mean no harm. There is no need for killling," the woman tried to speak calmly, but her voice came out shakily. All that casual talk of murder clearly made Toriel uncomfortable. The only other gun she had seen before was a toy from one of the children she had tried saving so many years ago. The one the man held looked very different; it was definitely not a toy, and it glinted dangerously under the street lamp. "I... I have come up here a number of times in the past and I understand it is frightening to see someone who has never existed in your world before, but I can assure you we are good people..."

Her pleas fell on deaf ears.

Luke stumbled backward and held his hands up in the air as his partner pointed the gun at him. "What... H-Hey, Nate, man, what d'you think you're doin'? Calm yo' tits, dude, I'm your partner. . ."

Sans wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation. Weren't the humans just about to attack the two monsters? And now, suddenly, the blonde human was about to shoot his black-haired friend instead. Humans made no sense whatsoever. He had no time to be dealing with such trivial things. Focusing on the humans, Sans threw his arm up in the air and used his blue magic to hold one of the men in place. Luke let out a strangled shriek as he panicked, his knife hitting the floor as it slipped from his grip. The skeleton's left eye brightened as he glared at his victim. Sans' hand closed into a fist and his magic appeared as a tangible vapor that snaked around Luke's neck, holding the guy up firmly in a choke-hold. Luke hung there in the air, trying to kick his legs around, but his efforts were for naught. "Now look here, you dirty murderer. _**Both**_ _of you murderers._ I need to get to my hotel room, get in touch with the love of my life, and then look for her bro tomorrow. You guys're _killin_ ' my time here, and I don't need that right now."

"Sans, do not hurt them!" Toriel warned with wide eyes. "They have done us no harm. Let them go so we can go to our room for the night."

"They didn't do US harm, but these numb- _skulls_ sure as heck killed off other innocent monsters and harmed THEM... And they've already wasted the time I should have been using to talk to Ebb. You really think I should let them get away with _any_ of the things they've done?" The fact that there were other monsters who have been dying at the hands of ignorant humans really irritated Sans. The only other human he remembered had done any killing was Chara, though that was in another timeline altogether. Only Sans could remember that... and perhaps Frisk as well, even though the kid never really liked to talk about it. Thinking about Chara infuriated Sans even more; he thrust his hand to the right and watched as Luke was thrown into an alleyway nearby like a rag doll. He heard the human hit the wall at the end. Before Nate could do anything with his gun, Sans quickly grabbed the man with magic and chucked him down the alley as well. Nate cried out in pain in the distance, Luke groaned and coughed, and Toriel's hands flew up to her mouth.

" _SANS_ , that is _enough_!" The goat woman still had her hands covering her mouth, and she spoke through the spaces between her fingers.

The skeleton stood stiffly for a good two minutes before he turned and grinned with a small shrug. "Hey, I _did_ 'let them go,' right? They kinda just... slipped. I guess you could say the chickens flew the coop pretty quickly."

Toriel frowned with a disapproving shake of her head, but squinted into the alleyway when she saw movement. Were the two humans still alive? The speed that they had gone flying should have at least knocked them out, but... Her pupils dilated when she heard a _CLICK_ ing sound. Luke was out cold, but Nate had propped himself up onto one elbow as he cocked his gun. Toriel could see the man take aim with a crazy look in his eyes.

"You guys... really _are_ fucking monsters. . ." Nate spit out blood from his mouth and was panting heavily.

" _Sans, they're-_ "

The goat woman spoke a moment too late. There was a deafening _**BANG**_ when Sans turned to look at Toriel; then he heard something zip by not even a second later. Whatever it was had roughly struck past the surface of the back of his head. What just...? His fedora flopped to the ground from the force and he tried to bend down to pick it up. He didn't want to lose the one thing that reminded him of Ebony while on the Surface, but the skeleton's vision suddenly filled with stars and bright lights before fading quickly into darkness. The last thing he remembered before collapsing and blacking out completely was Toriel crying out his name in a panic. She raised a hand filled with her holy flames as she glared angrily at the blonde man in the alley.

* * *

Sans' eye sockets shot open and he sat upright with a gasp. Looking around, he found that he was in a bedroom. Was it what Toriel referred to as the 'hotel room'? Remembering that he had meant to message Ebony once arriving at the hotel, Sans looked around for his phone. Finally, the skelebro found his phone sitting on a table in the middle of the room and he scrambled off of his bed to go and grab it. His foot caught on the bed-sheets and he fell face-first onto the floor.

" _Jesus fucking_ _ **christ**_ _-_ " Sans hissed in pain as a sudden shock slammed him like a truck right between his eyes. His hand went straight up to his forehead as he blinked dizzily. He didn't _always_ swear, but he figured now was a perfectly fine exception. His brother wasn't around to hear the profanity, either. The skeleton sat up and rocked back and forth for a little in his spot as he waited for the pain to die down. His brow was furrowed with concentration as he tried to focus on his surroundings, his vision blurred from the massive headache. It was just a little fall. Why did his head hurt so _much_?

Eventually, he stood up and wobbled over to the table. A shadow of anguish fell over the skeleton's face as he stared at what sat on the small wooden furniture. His flip phone had been smashed and was a pitiful, irreparable little mess now. A note sat next to the remains, saying:

" _My friend, I hope you rested up enough. I apologize, but your phone broke during all the chaos last night. I would offer the use of my own phone so you can contact Ebony; but of course, that will only work if you remember her number. I do not have many numbers saved from all my years in the Ruins._

 _P.S.: I shall return with food and some other necessities. Please change your clothing and rest up until then_."

Sans sighed and flipped the paper over so it showed the blank side. He was no good at remembering numbers when it came to phones. Contacting his girlfriend would prove to be more difficult than he had imagined. He lifted his head and tried to look around, his eyes stopping at the big mirror hanging on the wall before him. No wonder Toriel told him to change clothes. The skeleton was a real fucking _mess._ Something crazy really must have happened after he passed out the previous night, because his beautiful fedora was also nowhere to be found. His shirt and pants were now adorned with many rips and cuts-even some burn marks-and his suspenders were falling off of his shoulders. It was a good thing he left his fluffy blue jacket with Ebony, or that would have gotten all screwed up as well.

 _Fucking hell... So much for showing the nice outfit to Ebb,_ thought the poor skelebro bitterly. Sans' phone was totaled, so he couldn't even shoot a text her way. His clothes were in shambles, and the hat that had reminded him of his girl was now gone as well. He was having a pretty bad time, and decided that he wasn't so sure he liked the Surface at all if unfortunate shit like that was going to keep on happening. He now wondered how Ebony felt when she first fell Underground, into an entirely different world from her own with all odds against her. Considering she was down there for two years by herself, he really had to give the woman some credit.

The man didn't have much of a choice. Spotting the plastic bag sitting in a chair by the table, Sans grabbed it and promptly changed into the clothes that were inside. He didn't have much choice with the shoes; it was either his nice black ones that he wore with his dressy outfit, or his usual pink slippers. He was already wearing the black shoes and felt too lazy to change that, so he left them on. His clothing was a simpler style now: Dark gray jeans hugged his hips comfortably, and he had a white t-shirt with black sleeves. There, printed smack-dab in the middle of the shirt, was a big silly skull. Of course Toriel would grab that for him. Sans' head still throbbed but he risked snorting a little when he saw the shirt. The skeleton reached into the bag and pulled out a black fur-lined jacket that looked almost identical to his blue jacket. The familiarity eased his mind some. He checked himself in the mirror after putting everything on and approved. It was nothing too fancy, which was what he preferred anyway. He turned to take a look in the bag for anything else, when, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something in the mirror that struck him as... strange.

Sans slowly stepped over to the mirror and tried to turn his head the same way he had done just a second ago. There it was, stretching just a hair over the left side of his skull.

Was that. . .?

The door clicked open and Sans whirled around swiftly, a wary look in his eyes. He relaxed when he saw it was only Toriel, who came bearing two bags full of food and other things.

"Hello, Sans," the goat woman greeted heartily. She set the bags down by the mini fridge and set to work with filling up the tiny appliance. "I went shopping for some food since we will be here for perhaps a day or two longer. I suppose it depends on how long it takes before we can find Ebony's brother, as well as her gift."

"Oh. Uh. Okay, sure. Thanks." The skelebro smiled half-heartedly. Just thinking about the fact that he wouldn't be able to contact Ebony during his time up on the Surface discouraged him a little. But he wanted to find what needed to be found already and then rush back Underground into his angel's arms.

"How is your head doing?" Toriel glanced worriedly at her small skelefriend, who in turn blinked confusedly. Did she know he had the headaches? No, it had to have been something she noticed while he was knocked out.

"Huh? It's been fine." Sans grinned and rubbed the back of his head. That was when he felt it: There was something, somewhere, on the back of his head. His bony fingers bumped into it; he traced it a few times to make sure and assumed the size he felt was about a good inch or inch and a half long. Sans' skull was cracked a little somehow. He grimaced and smiled a little. "Uh... Other than the minor _head-splitting_ injury, I'd say it's doing pretty well. Heh."

"If you say so... If it gets any worse, then we need to get you checked up on; no questions about it," said the goat-mom with a little frown. "It may have happened when that 'Nate' child tried to shoot you with his weapon..."

"Get checked up? At some hospital? Nahhh. Only reason we'll be goin' into the hospitals is to ask whether they'd seen Brenn." Sans blew off his injury; it did no good to wallow in misery over it. He already had other things to worry about, and he was pretty sure it wouldn't bother him any more over time anyway. Besides, big white rooms and the sterile smell that came with them made him highly uncomfortable. "So what happened to the two humans anyway?"

"Ah... Well, it seems they've been submitted to a hospital, themselves." Toriel's answer was very vague as she smiled brightly. Sans had a suspicion that the woman had put the hurt on the humans before leaving them in front of some random hospital.

Heading back to the plastic bag that had first contained his clothes, he reached in to see if there was anything else before he decided to chuck the bag itself... and pulled out one more thing. It was a faded picture, but not of anyone he recognized. Toriel must have brought it with her when coming to the Surface with Sans.

Sans pulled the picture up close to stare at the details. In it was a young child with jet black hair. A young... boy. His hair was cut somewhat short and parted neatly to one side, and he had eyes the color of emeralds. The boy's eyes may as well have been gems, with the way they sparkled as he sat in a chair next to a grand piano. He had a sharpness about him that even Sans could sense through the picture. The way the child's eyes lit up reminded the skeleton of mossy green eyes on another human. . . Something finally clicked in the skelebro's brain and his eyes widened as he hurriedly examined the rest of the picture, flipping it about. There, in the bottom-right corner on the back of the worn image, were two things scrawled side-by-side in pen.

 _'Brennivin - 15.'_

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Oh dude, I actually had a good time writing this chapter. I felt it was nice to dedicate a chapter to someone who is *not* my original character, you know? It's good to know what's going on with other people here. :)**_

 _ **So my best friend wanted me to use the force choke-hold on one of the guys earlier in the day when I was writing this and RIGHT after she told me that, I realized that I already named one of those guys 'Luke.' Totally died. xD**_

 _ **Also, that crack on Sans' skull... Wonder if it'll affect anything in the future? The bonehead should probably get it checked on, but doesn't seem like he wants to. What a stubborn cutie.**_

 _ **Thank you for taking the time to read/review my chapters. *she claps happily***_

 _ **See you guys at the next chapter!**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	23. No Stone Unturned

**Chapter 21: No Stone Unturned**

After two more weeks or so of searching and turning up with nothing, Sans was becoming more and more discouraged with their endeavor. It was beginning to affect Toriel a bit, as well, and though she didn't openly talk about it, the skeleton could see it was wearing her out. The fact that Sans couldn't keep in touch with Ebony while he was on the Surface was also making him extremely anxious. He had suggested to Toriel that they should just go back home already, but Toriel reminded the skeleton that if they were to return empty-handed after all that time, then how were they to explain themselves to the others-Ebony, especially-about their long period of absence? Sans grudgingly agreed with that reasoning. He still really wanted to come back with _something_ for the young woman's birthday, and felt like he could no longer afford to be picky about it. The longer he took to decide on a gift, the longer he would take to get back Underground.

It wasn't until the final hospital that they walked into, one near the edge of the city, that they had finally gotten somewhere. The two came across a small building; it was much smaller than the other hospitals they had come across. In fact, it felt more like a clinic than anything. But after exhausting all their other options, they didn't want to overlook any possibilities. As Sans stepped inside and held the door open for Toriel, there sat a red-haired receptionist who gasped and stared wide-eyed at him. He groaned inwardly. The whole scaring-the-human thing was already getting sort of old. It was _great_ that he didn't have to try very hard, but he still would have liked to pop a pun here and there first.

The goat woman always did the speaking first. Her warm demeanor usually made the humans a little more compliant. "Excuse me; we are here to find someone who is very dear to a friend of ours. May I ask that you take a look at the picture? If you know anything of his whereabouts, we would greatly appreciate it."

The counter that the receptionist sat behind was rather high. Sans had to stretch his arms up a little and strained on the tips of his toes to reach over the counter. He gave the woman the worn picture that they had been showing everyone else in the city. The woman, whose name was Lisette according to her tiny name tag, reached over and took the picture with a trembling hand. Sans was thankful he didn't have to tiptoe for long. Less than a second had passed before Lisette let out a gasp, which startled the skeleton. He wasn't expecting any form of realization after all those other hospitals turned up with nothing, but sure enough, the girl stared at the picture for a little longer before she spoke.

"You guys _know_ Brennivin Balkan? Have you seen him recently?"

"Uh, we were actually askin' _you_ that," Sans said with a raised brow. "His sister's been lookin' for him and we're trying to help."

"What happened to the child? He... _is_ alive, correct?" Toriel's motherly concern began to show, even for a child she knew nothing about, as she wrung her purple dress anxiously.

Lisette set the picture down in front of her, but handed it back to the skeleton when he tried to reach out for it with his short arm. The red-head seemed to have eased up a little more, but she looked thoroughly perplexed. "I mean... Brennivin was in a coma about two years ago. Very handsome child; it was sad to see him in a coma at his young age. His sister, Ebony, came every day to see him when he was first admitted, and she eventually stopped showing up one day. We thought she just lost hope and gave up. Then perhaps a year ago...? He vanished from his room. We couldn't find him anywhere. So to put it simply, he's been missing for some time. We figured Ebony came and took her brother away, but we haven't heard anything about it. I think she went missing for some time before Brennivin's disappearance, anyway. So he could be alive, or he _could_ be dead. It's hard to say; kids his age have definitely been getting by on the streets these days. But if _he_ just up and ran away, he had to have been weak without his medications anyway. He never had the strongest constitution."

"So it's pretty likely that he's a goner, then?" The skelebro's hope diminished and he began to deflate. His shoulders drooped as he slipped his bony hands into his new black jacket's pockets. "Aw crud, how'm I gonna tell Ebb any of that? We didn't think he'd already be..."

Lisette couldn't help feeling pity for the two monsters as she watched on. Toriel began to tear up a bit and dug into her purse for a handkerchief. She dabbed at her eyes with a weary sigh. "Oh my, I knew it may be difficult to track the child down, but to hear such news saddens me so. Sans, what shall we do?"

That was the biggest question indeed. What were they going to do? How were they going to break it to Ebony? She had been running around for two years trying to find her way out and back to the Surface to her brother, but now it was going to feel like those two years were a complete waste. Sans left the small clinic wordlessly as Toriel bowed and thanked the receptionist, who in turn waved with a tiny smile and wished the both of them luck.

"Ah, wait!"

Toriel was just about to step through the door but turned at the low voice that had cried out for her. She saw a tall man with long blonde hair wearing a white coat and standing by Lisette. The guy looked to be in great shape and looked like he was almost in his 40s, but still had a good looking baby face. He had rushed out of his office with alert, clear blue eyes, seeking the voices that had been speaking of the Balkan siblings so sorrowfully. Seeing a big goat monster took him by surprise, but he composed himself and said, "I'm Dr. Fontaine. I was Brennivin's and Ebony's doctor for a few years. Just - Please... If you see little Ebony, just tell her she doesn't have to worry about the medical bills. She never _had_ to worry about it. We kept telling her that we'd never do that to two children, but the silly girl was always so hard-headed and insisted on paying me back. And. . . And please tell her I'm sorry for the loss. Brennivin always came in for check-ups while growing up so I could already make out that he was a very bright, energetic kid. I'm sure telling her the news won't be easy, so... good luck."

The goat woman nodded solemnly and thanked the doctor with a bow of her head. Then she left the hospital to catch up with Sans.

Trudging along the sidewalk, Sans stared at the ground with a dejected sigh. He heard other people murmuring around him and avoiding him because the pinpricks of lights that were his pupils were gone, leaving only two dark voids to those who saw him, but he paid no mind to the humans already.

There wasn't much else that could be done. He _could_ still pick up a birthday present and simply feign ignorance with his girlfriend about her brother. At least she would be none the wiser, and the two could continue to live a happy life together. That was one of the easiest choices Sans would have settled for, but it also didn't quite feel right to hide something like the details of her own family from her. It was too big a thing to keep hidden, and the girl was sharp enough; she would find out one day anyway. Yet, if he went ahead and told Ebony about the status of her brother, he was positive that the news would break her. It was so difficult to tell which would be the easiest way out. Sans eventually concluded with regret that there really was no easy solution: His girlfriend was going to be heartbroken either way.

The short skeleton paused at an intersection and looked around, feeling lost and trying to figure out where he should even go next. They already found out what they could about Brennivin, so all that needed to be done was finding something nice to give Ebony. Sans' eyes dragged lazily across all the different shops. They were beginning to all look the same to him. But-Something caught his eye that was on display in one of the stores. Sure, it fit snugly on the mannequin...

But it would look perfect on Ebony.

"Tori." The lights in his eyes were back, his spirits lifting just a little bit.

The goat woman tucked away her handkerchief and blinked. "Yes, Sans?"

"I think I've found the perfect gift."

* * *

Ebony was crouched outside of her house by the silent dummy and repeatedly traced a pattern into the dirt with her pinky finger. A soft sigh escaped her lips. She tried speaking to the dummy in order to vent her thoughts like she normally would, but the thing was eerily silent for a few days now. Undyne didn't really notice, but Ebony could feel that something was wrong with it. She settled for continuing to talk to it, though she felt it was equivalent to talking to herself at the moment.

More than a week had passed already, and Sans was not responding to any of her messages. She tried calling a few times during the skelebro's absence and it always went straight to his voicemail. His phone was most likely turned off, which frustrated her beyond belief. The tiny tendrils of Jealousy were eating away at her innards, and she tried to swallow it down. Was he really working? What if he was seeing another girl? Maybe someone who was prettier with longer hair... Or someone who didn't swear as much as _she_ did whenever she was mad? Why was she being ignored? The bonehead would have answered already. She could just leave for the Surface if she wanted to, but now she felt like she was only waiting for Sans to come back. What if he didn't come back to her...?

Ebony didn't like the heavy feeling of dread that hovered over her shoulders, and she didn't like thinking so many negative thoughts. All the unnecessary questions were bogging down on her mind and depressing her. She focused fully on pushing her finger deeper into the dirt until suddenly she actually felt a hand on her shoulder. Letting out a shriek, Ebony scrambled to her feet with hands outstretched to keep the newcomer at a distance. Heart pounding, the girl gasped and moved a hand to her chest.

"Holy crap. Alphys...?"

There, standing before her, was a short yellow dino-girl with round spectacles and a white lab coat. It was Undyne's girlfriend. The little dinosaur didn't have the best posture; she was sort of hunched over, easily making her shorter than Sans, who was short enough as is. Posture was a pet peeve for Ebony; as a singer, standing or sitting upright with shoulders straightened had become a force of habit for herself throughout the years. But even though incorrect posture normally bothered her, Ebony thought it was stupid to let that affect her relations with others. Alphys was still a sweet little thing. She had a bit of a stutter, but nobody cared nor did they say anything about it. The dino was also an anime nerd, which was a big plus in the brown haired girl's heart. It had been years since she saw anything anime-related, but Ebony could definitely geek out if the topic was within her understanding. It was often nice to just nerd out with Alphys at the Lab. The best part was messing with Undyne, who thought the things that happened in anime were things that happened normally on the Surface.

"I-I'm sorry, Ebony! I didn't mean to s-scare you...! Is, uhm, Undyne around?" Alphys pushed her glasses further up on her nose and eyed the patterns in the dirt. "Uhm. . . Are y-you doing okay?"

Ebony glanced down at her crude little masterpieces; the ones Alphys was staring at. They looked like a handful of wilting stars. She only drew up the little stars whenever she was feeling lonely. It was a sad habit she developed while growing up with her shitty parents. Considering how she was feeling for the past week or so, there were probably hundreds of those tiny droopy stars throughout Waterfall now. She promptly kicked up some dirt over the doodles and laughed half-heartedly. "Yeah... I'm pretty great, actually. Just, y'know, thinking about... things. Hehe... Uhm, Undyne's in the living room trying to practice on the piano if you wanted to go and see her!"

"O-Oh, hey, th... thanks..."

"Yeah! Any time, Alphys!" The girl clumsily stepped past Alphys, who was watching with knitted eyebrows as the human fumbled for the doorknob. It was quite apparent that something was really eating away at Ebony's thoughts.

"I know we don't t-talk all the time, but if anyth-thing is bothering you, p-please don't hesitate to give me a call. Or just st-stop by my place so we can w-watch more Mew Mew Kissy Cutie or... y-y'know...?" Alphys said with an awkward smile. She was fumbling around for the proper words of comfort and played around with her claws, her shoulders drawn in as she gave a tiny frown. "Bottling things up is... it's n-not a good thing. I should know that f-for a fact, so. . ."

Ebony finally wrapped her hand around the doorknob as her friend spoke. Her heart went out to the poor dino. She knew Alphys was trying hard to make the girl feel better. With a forced laugh, the girl's green eyes lit up as she gave Undyne's girlfriend a quick, tight half-hug with her free arm. "Hey, thanks for the offer. I really appreciate it. Just remember that the same offer goes to you too."

Alphys blushed and her face broke out into a big smile. Someone appreciated her. This made the dinosaur so happy. "Ah, thanks! It's s-so good to have friends who are there for each other!"

The door suddenly clicked and flew open, but because Ebony had one hand over the knob already, she got dragged along with the door. She squeaked in surprise as she stumbled forward and fell to her knees. Undyne was there on the other side of the entrance. She beamed at Alphys, but cocked her head at Ebony and helped the girl to her feet. "Babe, you're here! ... Ebb, what the heck were you doing down there?"

Ebony rolled her eyes and then facepalmed. "Oh. Well, just _hangin' around_ and all. Nothing new here."

Undyne's face screwed up into a small scowl as she grumbled, "Sans' _punny_ personality is really rubbin' off on you."

"You too, Cap'n Crunch. You too." The girl felt a twinge of pain just thinking about Sans, but she kept it well hidden with a silly grin.

" _NGAHHHH- Why do you keep calling me that?!"_

Ebony snickered as her green eyes glinted mischievously. She liked fucking around with Undyne. The woman was very much like her: Quick to irritate. And because they were alike in that sense, Ebony usually knew how to stay well within her best friend's threshold without prompting the destruction of something. "Well, you've got a name for _me_ ; it's only fair I have one for you, _bestie._ "

"I guess you're right, but _I don't even know what it means in the first place- UGH._ Never mind, Ebb." The blue fish woman narrowed her yellowish eye at her roommate in mock irritation, but grabbed both of the girls' hands and pulled them into the house. Ebony smiled and situated herself at the kitchen table as she watched Undyne show off her newfound piano knowledge to Alphys. The brown haired girl had been giving Undyne a sprinkle of short lessons for the past few days; it was nice to see the fish woman's skills grow over time. Undyne had the musical inclination for sure, but one had to be extremely patient with the woman before the day ended with a seriously murdered piano.

After a while of just sitting at the table, Ebony felt her skin prickling uncomfortably. Something was watching her. Whoever or whatever it was, the girl could feel their gaze drilling into the back of her head. Glancing back quickly at the window, she didn't see anybody. It was probably just the grumpy, quiet dummy outside. Maybe he was feeling a little left out? Well, he refused to talk to Ebony earlier when she tried to make conversation with him, so it was his loss at the end of the day. She blinked confusedly but placed her chin in her hand and thought of Sans as she watched the cute lesbian couple with a faint smile.

* * *

" _ **There**_."

"But... the fish hag is there too! You _won't_ like her."

" _ **Then let's just... bring her out another way. I wanted to have fun with her.**_ "

There was a soft chuckle and a small cackle.

"If you say so, Chara."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **OMG GRILLBZ, YOU LEFT A REVIEW**_. _**I know it was a Guest who posted it, but to know you, my Anonymous friend, took the time to do so makes me very happy.**_ _**Thank you! :D**_

 _ **I know reviews take an extra minute to type out and submit, but if any of you guys would like to tell me what you think so far, it would be greatly appreciated! I more-than-appreciate Just 2 Dream of You, Awesomenesss-sama, and Angel of Randomosity for always being thoughtful and leaving reviews whenever I put up a new chapter. You guys are the bomb dot com!**_

 _ **I'm no longer posting every day because now I can take time to type out my chapters! Now you're just gonna get surprises when I randomly post a chapter. It'll keep you guys on yo' toes! I will continue to type how I want my story to go, but I still would love to know how I'm doing here. The only way I can tell right now is how often certain chapters are being re-read, and even that makes my day. Please notice me, Senpai.**_

 _ **On a SIDE NOTE, I recently changed my cover image. You can see it better on my tumblr, so please check it out! I'm so happy I was able to draw it out to begin with. o:**_

 _ **Wellllp, I'll see you guys at the next chapter~!**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	24. Between A Rock and A Hard Place

**Chapter 22: Between A Rock and A Hard Place**

When it was decided that Alphys would stay the night, Ebony decided to prepare dinner for the three. She chose to make lasagna, as pasta was always a favourite for her. A sleepover... She wasn't sure whether it would distract the herself from thoughts of the bonehead, but it would be nice to do regardless. After they devoured the lasagna, Ebony decided to ask the girls if they wanted to sleep in her room that night. Undyne excitedly agreed with the idea of a sleepover and actually dragged her own mattress from her bedroom to squeeze into her friend's room.

"Ohmygod. Undyne, I d-don't think that's going to fit-"

"Calm down babe, I got it! If it can fit in my room, it _can fit in Ebb's room too!_ " Undyne tried to squish her mattress in half and pushed it between the door frame as she reassured the dino-girl. Alphys covered her eyes with her claws and prepared herself for the inevitable damage, while Ebony could only watch in horror and pray that the door frame would stay intact after Undyne's forceful attempts. Eventually, the mattress decided to give in and popped right into the young woman's room, and a roar of triumph left her roomie's mouth.

" _BOO-YAHH!_ See, I _told_ you guys it'd be fine. You guys should have more faith in me; I dunno why you guys were acting _SOOOO_ terrified that something would break-"

Undyne had spoken too soon. Ebony let out a cry of despair. The fish lady had just tossed the mattress onto the ground and the frame was most definitely still intact... But the act of swinging the mattress around in the room had consequently knocked into the music box that Ebony had sitting on top of her cabinet. Ebony instinctively rushed past Alphys and dove for the music box to save it, but she missed it by a second and accidentally smacked her head into the cabinet door. It was a comical scene from an outsider's point of view. However, her precious music box slammed down against the floor and broke into a number of large pieces. Ebony gaped at the remains on the floor and agonized inwardly. That was the first gift Sans had gotten her when they started dating. Undyne laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head.

"Uh... At least I didn't break the door frame, right?"

"Ahh, Ebony...! Are you okay?! Ohgod. Y-you should apologize, Undyne! It might have been i-important to her! Ebony, I'm s-so sorry!" Alphys' hands were pawing frantically at the air as she did the panicking in place of her girlfriend. She rushed over and quickly tried to pick up all the pieces for Ebony, but jumped in surpise when the human suddenly barked a laugh.

"This is great. You guys are great. Well, we should toss this broken piece of junk and move on, right? It wasn't doing anything up there anyway." Ebony helped Alphys by picking some of the mess up and dumped it casually into the trash can by her small desk. Then she sat on her bed and rubbed at the spot where she had accidentally hit her head with a tiny smile. "I'm just a little touched in the head, is all."

What a strange reaction. Undyne stared at her roommate momentarily before leaving the room to grab some blankets.

"Are... you alright, Ebony?" Alphys got to her feet and hesitantly threw away the remaining pieces of the music box in the trash, then looked up at the young girl. "Sans is usually th-the one who makes remarks like that. It's the first I'm hearing it f-from you. Was the h-head injury bad?"

"I... I really don't even want to think of Sans right now. Sorry, Alphys." Ebony looked back at the small dino-girl with an apologetic smile. Alphys could see those deep green eyes were full of hurt, and watched helplessly as the human left the room.

Love and attention. Ebony craved it horribly, and Sans was not around to appease her. She walked down the hallway to Undyne's room and peeked inside. Her roomie was rolling up a couple of blankets for the sleepover. ". . . Undyne?"

The fish woman craned her head a fraction and caught a glimpse of her friend while lifting the blankets over her own head. "Erm, Ebb! I really am sorry I broke your music-y thing. It was an accident; I'll be more careful next time, okay?"

Ebony ignored the apology. Her mind was consumed with a different kind of worry. "Why hasn't Sans come back?"

Undyne stopped bunching up the blankets and let a couple of the corners droop out in various places. Her shoulders tensed up a bit as she gave a strained laugh, letting the blankets fall to the floor. "Oh! Fuhuhuhu, isn't that bonehead still working?"

"I totally get 'work,' but... for almost a month straight now, without any contact? He hasn't been answering any of my messages. His phone is apparently off. What's going on with him?"

"He's probably doing just fine, Ebb! I... uh, haven't kept in touch with him recently though..." Undyne's voice trailed off and she began to sweat profusely. She thought Sans was just being too lazy to respond to her, but to ignore his own girlfriend too? Something had to be wrong, but if his phone was not turned on, there was no way for the fish lady to keep in touch with the skelebro while he was on the Surface. She didn't even have Toriel's number. Feeling stupid for not properly swapping numbers with the two who were going to be Aboveground looking for a gift and an answer, Undyne's stomach did an uneasy flip. The captain always decided things on impulse, and though the decision was made with good intentions, this probably wasn't one of the best moments to bear the consequences of it. She hadn't anticipated losing contact with Toriel _and_ Sans. How could she have expected that, anyway? The woman didn't think it would take so long to go there and come back. Should she tell her best friend about the reason why Sans was gone? But she didn't know why he wasn't answering his phone, so she wouldn't be able to give any valid explanation for _that_... And what about the surprise? It would be ruined if Undyne herself let it slip, especially after fabricating the idea in the first place. She didn't know what to do.

Ebony was not the type to just sit and wait for such a long period of time. If Sans didn't want to let her know what the hell was going on, so be it. Unfortunately, the sleepover would have to wait. "You can use my room for the night, since your bed is already in there."

"Wait! You're not... gonna look for him, are you?" Undyne rushed to Ebony's side and worriedly leaned over to look her friend in the eyes. If the young girl decided to wander back up to the Surface, then she might pass Sans and Toriel completely, and there would be no birthday to celebrate. Ebony raised her eyebrows slightly as if finding Sans had been the last thing on her mind and shook her head.

"I don't intend on looking for him. I'll be back, Undyne."

* * *

He was already about to close up the bar when Ebony stepped inside, the ringing of the bell alerting him to the presence. Grillby looked up from the table he was cleaning up and gazed quizzically at the short girl. "Well, I daresay I'm rather surprised to see you back here so soon, my dear. What is the cause for visiting me at such a late hour?"

"Can we talk?" Ebony moved over to one of the bar stools and took a seat with a very serious expression.

"Oh? So you'll be doing the talking this time, is that it?" quipped Grillby as a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He had a feeling he knew exactly _who_ the girl wanted to talk about. He walked around the counter and made the young human her usual favourite drink.

"If someone is gone and doesn't contact you for almost a month now, what do you think the reason is for that? ... Because at this point, 'work' is sounding more and more like some weak fucking excuse." Ebony took the alcohol with a soft 'thank you' and downed it quickly but went straight to the point, ignoring the teasing tone Grillby had used. She didn't know what to do. Why she was even asking another man about something like a _boyfriend_ gone missing... Ebony would not have been able to explain it properly if anyone asked her. All she knew was that she was fucking lonely and needed to see this man. What else could she do? Besides, Grillby was good at giving the girl his undivided attention; it came with the job occupation, sure, but he also did it because he _wanted_ to hear her thoughts.

Grillby considered the question for a moment and leaned forward onto the counter with his elbows. The only reason Ebony would ask him such a thing is if Sans himself went missing for that amount of time. It sounded like the incident with the other monsters going missing Underground. Could the skeleton have become a part of that number...? It concerned the bartender to some degree, but he also made note of the fact that Ebony had come to see _him_ in a moment like this. "If ' _someone_ ' has been gone for such a long period of time, perhaps they may have lost interest in returning home. It's rather difficult to say. Anything could happen in a couple of weeks, but if they're not contacting you or responding to anything you're sending them... Pardon me if I'm stepping over boundaries here, love, but I can only think that 'someone' is hiding something."

The man's words were very firm and realistic, but Ebony preferred that. At least nothing was really being sugar-coated. She especially hated finding out later if someone was hiding something or lying to her when she believed in them. But if Grillby's assumptions hit the mark, then that would have meant Sans might have grown tired of Ebony and perhaps decided to cut ties with her. Maybe the skelebro _did_ find someone else. The fear of no longer being needed in the life of someone who was important to her is what cut into Ebony the most. The girl's expression hardened as tears prickled her eyes. They _were_ only together for about a couple of months or so. She didn't _want_ to hurt him. But if Sans was going to make her feel like her feelings were some toy meant to be played with, then _she_ was going to cut him off first... _before he did_.

"Grillby... What do you think about a good * _fuck*_ right now?"

* * *

The night sky was approaching quickly, and the sun was already setting. Sans sat in the bathroom on the toilet, staring down at the bulge in his pants. He made sure to lock the door, even though Toriel wasn't back yet. She was out looking for a souvenir for Asgore, and had insisted that the skelebro stay behind this time to rest up. It was a long day, and he was _bone-_ tired, but he couldn't sleep. Thoughts of the green-eyed human filled his mind; it made him restless and horny. He wanted to see her. He wanted to _fuck her_ already. Just thinking about things like squeezing his bony fingers around Ebony's firm ass and spreading her cheeks apart made him ache for her. He was a skeleton, sure, but he was still a guy with needs that had to be tended to.

Sans thought about all the places they could have explored together if Ebony could come up to the Surface with him. There was probably way more that she knew about and could show him. And if she were there, he would have fucked her in all corners of the hotel room already. Maybe he'd even pound her in the shower if the girl was in the mood for that.

He slowly undid his pants and let them drop down to his ankles. The black jeans were a nice change and he admit it looked great on him, but it was a bit of a nuisance not having his usual shorts to just slip out of. Sans' pupil flashed a bright blue as he formed the ecto-tongue that unfurled from his mouth. He wrapped his fingers around his thick blue boner and let out a soft sigh. He shut his eyes and imagined Ebony's warm lips encircling his dick as he began to stroke himself slowly. It had been a while since he last jacked himself off. Touching his own cock felt like something foreign and strange all over again.

 _Ebony. . ._

The skeleton wished sorely for his girlfriend to be there in the bathroom with him so he could feel and taste every inch of her. It was unfortunate that his phone had to be smashed to pieces. He would have been attempting sex over the phone with the girl at least a week into this venture on the Surface already... if not, at least sending pictures of himself playing with his dick for Ebony while he was away.

 _Ebb... I need you._

Sans began to move faster, his grip tightening around his fat length as he stroked it more firmly. His mouth was kept ajar as he let out little gasps of pleasure and pushed himself closer to the edge. He wouldn't be heading home at least for a couple more days. After finding the girl's gift, Toriel realized that she hadn't grabbed anything for her husband. As a result, they'd be spending a little more time on the Surface for the goat woman to find that. Maybe Sans could find something else to go with the item he picked up. He wanted the gift to be perfect for his girlfriend. But... he did need a release at that moment. Imagining Ebony's tits bouncing in front of him as he jacked off made him shudder, and he quickly fumbled for the toilet paper with his other hand to catch the blue strings of cum that shot out once he orgasmed. A low groan rumbled from his throat and he slumped forward on the toilet, panting with a weak but satisfied smile.

He wanted the gift to be as perfect as _she_ was.

* * *

O- _ho_. So she wanted a revenge fuck. Grillby felt himself rapidly grow hard at the thought of finally being able to have sex after weeks of just blue-balling it... so to speak. "Well love, you should have asked me that in the first place. Come here so _I can give you the fucking your voluptuous little body needs_."

Ebony's face flushed, as it always did when the man spoke in such a manner to her. Without a second thought, she climbed out of her stool and right onto the counter, feeling impatient and wasting no time in trying to walk around the blasted thing. This surprised Grillby; he raised an eyebrow and grinned wickedly, his pointed flaming teeth showing. He then grabbed the girl by her waist and made her sit on the edge of the counter. Ebony unbuttoned her shorts and began to slip out of that, as well as her dark panties. She wanted to head back home with actual clothing, rather than have it singed off, so eventually the shirt and bra were the last things to also fall off.

Grillby was so eager to fuck that he ripped his gloves off and was already removing the rest of his clothing. The way his body pulsed with flame made Ebony shiver with anticipation. The bartender kneeled a little and immediately went to work on the woman's smooth legs, kissing and licking at her calves and thighs hungrily. Ebony thought he would literally devour her on the spot. However, she did really like seeing a man go crazy over the idea of fucking her. Her gasp got caught in her throat when the man's hot tongue pressed firmly against her folds.

Right. She forgot how _hot_ Grillby was. The bartender pulled away for a moment and removed his glasses, his searing white eyes flashing up at her before he lowered his head between her legs. The heat emanating from his tongue spread throughout her body as he began to tongue-fuck her. The feeling of Grillby's slick tongue rubbing against the insides of Ebony's pussy was phenomenal, and she leaned back on her elbows with a satisfying shudder. They spent a few minutes like that; Ebony panting softly with shut eyes while Grillby sucked and tongue-fucked her cunt. The man pulled away long enough to slowly push two fingers between his partner's soaking wet folds. Ebony opened her eyes when Grillby murmured her name, and found him standing, lifting his fingers up to her face. She parted her lips and began to suck at the offering. The man felt his mouth twitch involuntarily. He fought back his own groan when Ebony's lips took his two fingers further... and further... until they finally reached his knuckles. The look on her face when she looked up at the man sent shivers down his spine. This human drove him up the wall.

"Woman, you test me," growled Grillby as he grit his sharp teeth. He slowly removed his fingers from the girl's mouth. He then sat on the floor and beckoned with one slender index finger for Ebony to join him. "Come."

Ebony hopped down from the counter and gulped when she saw the man's long dick exposed and at attention. It was a while since they last fucked, so the feeling would be new to her once again. She sat on Grillby's firm legs and faced him, her own legs wrapping around the man's waist as she gazed up at him with her big green eyes. The man's eyes flicked downward as he maneuvered his twitching cock toward the girl's entrance and slowly, agonizingly, pushed his way into her.

The two watched this as monster penetrated human, both moaning as Grillby buried himself deeper and deeper into Ebony's cunt, until only the base of his cock could be seen. There was something Ebony loved about that; something utterly arousing about watching her partners push their whole cock into her. The woman leaned forward, pressing up against Grillby's warm, broad chest with her cheek and her hands as short pants escaped her lips. The smell of cinnamon lingered in the air and intoxicated Ebony's mind, clouding her thoughts completely.

Grillby placed his hands on Ebony's hips and slowly began to thrust into her. Ebony let out a pleasant gasp and her dark green eyes widened; the feeling of her pussy being stretched wonderfully and Grillby sighing her name into her soft brown hair already sent her reeling.

"I would... _nngh_... like to make you forget... _about_ _ **Sans**_ _. You will be_ _ **MINE**_ _,_ " the bartender hissed into his lover's ear. The way he said it-as if he were going to monopolize her as _his_ property alone-made Ebony shiver. She could only respond with a whimper of pleasure as her nails raked down the man's chest. The nails didn't hurt Grillby, but only served to arouse him even more, and he began to move Ebony's hips up and down with firm hands to shove his dick further between her legs. The position they were in was perfect for that.

It definitely hurt to think about the skelebro. Maybe he was hurt; maybe something _was_ wrong. But if something was truly amiss, Sans could still have responded with _something_ to his own girl. How was Ebony supposed to know what was going on? The lack of communication and the lack of Sans' presence further pushed the woman to where she was now: Fucking a flaming bartender monster to satisfy her carnal needs, and to make the damned loneliness go away. Maybe it _was_ about time to head to the Surface on her own. She'd miss everyone whom she had gotten closer with, but she hadn't forgotten about her brother. She had to stop dawdling and being so afraid to go back to the Surface by herself. And she sure as fuck couldn't simply rely nor wait on anyone to do the finding out _for_ her when it was her own brother she was looking for.

Ebony's attention was brought right back down to Grillby, who was not only pounding into her with little sighs but had abruptly decided to bite down on her shoulder with his sharp teeth. Ebony bit back a scream and her eyes rolled up to the back of her head; it was out-of-the-norm, but the pain turned her on more than she expected. Perhaps it was because there was a flaming cock constantly filling her up at the exact moment that she had been bitten.

"My pet, you seem to enjoy this _far more_ than I could have imagined. Do you perhaps... _**like**_ pain?" Grillby's voice rumbled against the girl's shoulder as a smug chuckle left his throat. He lapped up the tiny droplets of blood that surfaced on Ebony's skin, making her tremble and moan as she tried desperately to pull him closer. Ebony's nails dug into the man's back, prompting him to grin down at her. " _ **Moan for me, Ebony.**_ _The way you moan for me sounds simply_ _ **divine**_."

"Just - Just shut up and ff _fffuck_... me. _Hhhf..._ I'm not... anybody's pet..." Ebony breathed her frustration with a defiant look in her eyes. Rather, it was as defiant as she could have possibly looked while being fucked senseless by a searing hot monster cock.

"But my dear, don't forget that you came here _asking_ me for the sex. Where is my 'please'...?" The man clicked his tongue in disapppointment and little licks of flame escaped his mouth as he ground his hips against the woman's. There was one fantastic spot he hit multiple times that made Ebony cry out in pleasure. The young woman was reaching her limit, and it was happening quickly. "Should I not be allowed to satisfy my temptation to give you little pet names while I... satisfy your needs? Now, _where are your manners,_ _ **love**_ _?_ "

 _Oh god, the things he does to me... I never know what to expect,_ thought the brown haired girl with a moan. She watched Grillby's delicious expressions while he rammed his cock into her wet pussy, and finally she cried out: " _Please. Please please *PLEASE* shut up and... fuck... mmgh-"_

And suddenly, Grillby's mouth was over hers. Suddenly, his hot monster tongue was snaking into her mouth and all Ebony could feel was a warm, tingling sensation blanketing her whole body as the two kissed. It was a sinful, pleasurable feeling indeed, and that thought alone - of enjoying this experience, but with Grillby instead of Sans - was more than enough to make Ebony feel a little guilty about her revenge sex. The bartender was losing control of his emotions and kept his mouth pushed roughly against the woman's in a hot, prolonged kiss. The next movement he made was swift and fluid; he held Ebony close and she soon found herself on her back as the flaming monster began pounding faster into her, drawing out cries from the woman that slowly rose in volume. Without much warning - save for an abrupt moan that Grillby let loose just beforehand - he kept himself deep inside of Ebony and came while visibly shivering over her body. Ebony shut her eyes halfway and kept her lips parted in a silent 'O' as she felt herself convulsing around Grillby's length. The man's hot semen slowly escaped her pussy just as soon as he pulled out of her.

"Has... _hhh_... this been satisfying enough, sweetheart...?" Grillby nuzzled the human's neck, leaving behind soft kisses as he spoke softly and held her close on his lap. Ebony shut her eyes tightly and nodded, burying her face in the bartender's chest. Her heart was pounding. The sex was great, but the lingering feeling of guilt now pervaded her thoughts.

It was Sans' fault. If he just came back to her already, this wouldn't have happened...

... Right?

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **Well, it's been a while since my last chapter. I hope this one will suffice, my readers! c:**_

 _ **NOOO Sans, she's not as perfect as you think! That skelebro is too smitten to see that humans make dumb mistakes. Ebony's pulling a stupid, and that makes this girl all sorts of frustrated! If she just waited a bit longer, her bonehead would have been back in her arms. But alas, humans can be impatient people sometimes. She wouldn't have known what Sans is doing nor where he was if they had not been communicating, so you gotta see it from her point of view as well. :(**_

 _ **I have literally been sick almost all of last week, and it's been dragging on to this week as well. Please forgive my tardiness in posting a chapter. v_v**_

 _ **I'll see you guys at the next chapter! :'3**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


	25. Technical Difficulties

**Chapter 23: Technical Difficulties**

Before heading to the CORE, Ebony decided to stop by the little shop in Snowdin to see her former boss and pick up supplies. The human made the decision to high-tail it out of the Underground before she had any more qualms about leaving. Upon setting foot in the small store and putting in an order of items to bring along, the girl saw that her boss looked rather distraught. While rummaging through the shop's inventory for Cinnamon Bunnies and Bisicles, the shop owner was mumbling concerns to herself and was obviously distracted. When asked whether she was okay, the rabbit smiled half-heartedly.

"I'm sorry, sugar. It's real nice seeing you again, but right now I'm just worried about my sister. She can't seem to find her kid, and it's been about a coupla weeks now. The kid's pretty good about finding his way back home after playing outside with the others, but to be gone for such a long time... Y'can only imagine how nerve-wracking it is for my sister that her child could even go missing."

That was strange. The bunny _was_ usually pretty good about sticking to his mother's side majority of the time. There was no way he could have gotten lost; the Underground wasn't _that_ expansive. At least, not as much as it was on the Surface. In fact, the world below seemed rather straight-forward and pretty much led from Point A to Point B - that being the Ruins and the Barrier. He couldn't have gotten far...

Ebony voiced her condolences and reached over the counter to give the rabbit woman a tight hug. "Boss, I'm really sorry to hear... If I find the kid, I'll boot him back home, okay?"

"Huge thanks, girlie. It'll do my heart good just as much as my sister to see the kid back home where he should be."

Once the necessary supplies had been picked up, Ebony waved farewell to her good boss and headed off to find her next friend. She came up by the perpetual Christmas tree, with all its festive decorations and presents. However, her eyes landed on Grillby's establishment and she automatically veered away from it, passing it and instead heading for the pathway that came right after the bar. The woman didn't want any heated situations to arise if she saw Grillby again. Lord knew they would most assuredly have sex again, and though that was welcoming indeed, she did _not_ want to be kept behind simply because of some good fucks. That flaming bartender always made her want to do sinful (and astronomically regretful) things whenever she was around him, and she didn't need any more than what was already weighing down on her very Soul.

There was a wolf around the corner who usually did the tiresome job of tossing huge blocks of ice into the river so it would float over to cool off the ever-burning CORE. _She_ usually made it a routine to stop by and bring the monster some snacks as her thanks for his hard work. The wolf always told her that he didn't have to chuck ice into the river any more, probably since the Barrier was gone, but still... It was something he couldn't bring himself to stop doing. Doing it in the first place gave him a feeling of being needed by people. The girl related all too well with that.

"Not everyone can lift these blocks of ice the way I do, you know," the creature always said in a matter-of-fact tone (though, Ebony felt that he said it more for reassurance on his part, and not for her sake). "Well, Undyne can probably lift these no problem too, but that's beside the point."

Apparently, he wanted to stay fit and muscly so he continued to lift ice blocks while also 'leaning up and bulking up'... Whatever _that_ meant. How in the world did one do both leaning and bulking at the same time? The girl didn't quite get it, and the wolf looked more than fit enough to her. Maybe his standards were different there. But Ebony stopped by MTT Resort prior to her trip to Snowdin and had some steaks (much to her disgust; not everyone was vain enough to put their face on slabs of meat, but obviously Mettaton was) put aside for her furry friend. She had plenty of money saved up and could spare giving a friend a goodbye gift before going back to the Surface. She wasn't going to need the G's any more once she hit the Surface. Nearing the little fenced-in area where the wolf normally worked, Ebony was surprised to see that the wolf was not there. The tiny building that constantly pushed out blocks of ice was not generating any ice; instead, there was a strange, thin film of gray dust covering the conveyor belt and sticking to the snow on the ground.

It had been a while since the girl had last visited him, so he probably finally stopped with lifting all that ice. She could understand the dust accruing after days of the machine not being used as a result of that decision. Ebony smiled a little and hopped over the fence to leave her usual gift of steak near the conveyor belt. The wolf would probably change his mind eventually and decide to come back again, as he normally did.

Now to stop by the skelebros' house. She wasn't sure she wanted to see Sans yet if he was magically home - and weird magic-filled situations were quite abundant while Underground - but she wanted to at least see Papyrus one more time before leaving. Maybe he'd let her take some spaghetti for the road! That would make his day for sure, and she had a bad craving for pasta.

Ebony passed the librarby and soon came up to the ever-familiar nonsensical house. She knocked a couple of times and waited patiently, but after knocking a third time, it occurred to her that Papyrus might not even be home. There were a number of places he could be. She didn't want to make herself at home by stepping inside without one of the skeletons around. So the woman tightened the scarf around her neck and pushed her short hair behind her ear, continuing on to leave Snowdin for good. She felt bad about _not_ telling her roomie that she was going to go back to the Surface, so she decided to stop back at Waterfall for but a moment.

Otherwise, knowing Ebony left without telling the very one who wanted to _help_ her leave in the first place... The remorse would only make leaving more difficult for the girl.

* * *

Upon arriving at Undyne's house, Ebony opened the door with her spare key and found her fishy friend sitting at the piano, drearily plunking away and playing 'Greensleeves' as best as she could. It had taken a while to learn, but it was the first song that Ebony taught the captain when they first began to live together. Playing chords was still sort of a problem, but it was good to see the woman practicing. Undyne's eyes darted upward from the keys when she heard the _CLICK_ of the front door, her pupils lighting up at the sight of her best friend's return.

"I thought I heard my favourite song," said the green eyed woman with a faint smile.

"Ebb, you're back! I... I thought you weren't going to come back." Undyne stood up and accidentally knocked over the piano bench, relieved to see that her friend had indeed not gone to look for Sans. Ebony, however, was confused by that remark.

"Why did you think that? I mean, it's not entirely false, but-"

"Wait, what do you mean? You... _weren't_ going to come back?" Now both women were confused.

Ebony was finding it a hundred times more difficult than expected just to tell her friend, but knew it had to be done. No more waiting around for something to happen, or for someone to return. "I'm... gonna be going now. To the Surface."

Undyne wasn't quite expecting that. Her chest felt weird; like someone tightened their hands around her diaphragm, making it difficult to breathe and think properly. She wanted to help her friend leave for the Surface since the beginning, but at the same time she had always hoped that the human wasn't _going_ to leave in the end. The amount of hurt the fish woman felt was unexplainable. "The. . .? Why're you going _now_? I... _**I thought you said you weren't going to look for Sans**_!"

"Well, I'm going because - Wait... That last bit. What does Sans have to do with...?" The young woman grasped at the scarf around her neck, her eyes widening at first before narrowing into slits. " _What_ did you say?"

Undyne's hand flew up to her mouth, the perfect picture of regret and alarm clearly slapped across her face as soon as the words slipped out. No. The feeling of panic rose in the fish woman's chest when she saw realization dawn on Ebony's face. Oh, fuck. That wasn't supposed to come out.

"Tell me what you said." Ebony took a step toward Undyne, her green eyes desperately searching her friend's yellow ones for an answer. If Sans was still alive and well, then that meant the girl had... "Please, just - I thought he just ditched me all this time - Undyne, tell me what you said. _Where the fuck is Sans?_ "

 _Tsk tsk. . . Cheated on the poor guy,_ the voice in Ebony's head pointed out with a click of an imaginary tongue.

 _ **No.**_

"I - Ebb, that came out all wrong, I didn't even mean to say that-"

" _WHERE IS HE?"_ The girl was finding it difficult to breathe now. Her chest tightened, and she could hear her own voice growing more shrill as horror creeped onto her face. She could hear all kinds of voices swirling around in her head... Especially a round the mistake she had made. " _YOU KNEW WHERE HE WAS ALL THIS TIME?_ "

 _Fucking SLUT._

 _You went and fucked Grillby without even thinking of the consequences._

 _ **NO.**_

 _What have you done? What were you thinking?_

 _If you only waited..._

"Wh... WHY ARE YOU RAISING YOUR VOICE AT ME? _It was supposed to be a surprise for you! YOU... YOU FUCKING_ _ **IDIOT! NGAHHHHHH!**_ " Undyne's fist slammed into the piano as her own voice grew into a roar of frustration, and Ebony flinched as she heard the groaning of piano wires snapping and fine quality wood cracking while the beautiful instrument died in front of her.

"A surprise...?"

"We knew your birthday was coming up, you dumb punk!" The fish woman didn't care any more. Fuck the surprise; it was already ruined. "Sans and the Queen went to the Surface to find your stupid present and to help you find your brother. We were doing it for you and wanted to surprise you. There. _Are you fucking happy?_ "

 _You cheated on him. It's as simple as that._

 _Are you happy with yourself now?_

 _ **No. . . Please, stop-**_

 _Opening your legs for anyone, and not just your boyfriend..._

 _ **But how could I have known what he was doing?**_

 _ **Everyone was keeping this whole thing from me as a surprise...**_

 _ **As a SECRET.**_

Ebony was at a loss of words. The voices in her head were bearing down on her. The guilt from what she thought was her 'revenge sex' was there behind all those irritating voices, mixed with a feeling of... betrayal. She was in no state to feel concern over anything else, really. The 'revenge sex' had so suddenly become 'cheating' in a matter of minutes.

"You were hiding this from me? For about a month?" Ebony managed to ask softly, her words coming out shakily as she felt anger well up inside of her. If it was one thing she despised, it was finding out later that everyone she had come to trust was part of some circle - some _plan_ \- that she knew nothing about. Finding out that everyone else was talking about things regarding her behind her back. It was like high school all. Over. Again. "You lied about Sans working... You made me believe something else _entirely_ for this long and _lied_ to me - for a... for a stupid _SURPRISE? Do you realize what you've caused by doing this to me? You don't realize that I had just done something utterly horrible!_ "

Undyne was hurt. She no longer cared about being 'nice.' Her lips curled into a bitter smile as she barked a laugh. Sure, she had been giving Ebony vague answers and even mentioned things about Sans working for the sake of a nice surprise, but if this was how a 'friend' thanked her for the sentiment alone... Then she didn't need a friend like that. "Whose fault is it for doing something you know would be regrettable later? Okay, go on. Go find your puny brother or whatever you were gonna do. See where that 'DETERMINATION' of yours brings you. It didn't get you very far down here, anyway. So go back to your fucking home on the Surface, Ebony. Oh, wait - _You don't have one_."

The brown haired girl was livid now. It was true that she no longer had a real home on the Surface, and she admit that she didn't get very far in the search for her brother while Underground for two years, but for her best friend to make such a low remark was not a smart choice.

"You're fucking kidding me! _Fuck you, bitch. I'll find Brenn. And I did fine without a damn home anyways,_ " spat Ebony with tears blurring her vision. She was not alone in the feeling, as Undyne's big eyes were also brimming with tears. Both were seeing red, and reasoning was not going to change a thing as long as one was fuming at the other. "I don't even know where the fuck Sans is right now, but the fact that _he_ didn't even say a _word_ to me about this... And the fact that I had to find out about this from you in such a way... No. I can't. I don't need people who lie to me and hide shit from me. I've dealt with enough of that already."

And with that, the human turned on her heel and stormed off for the Barrier. Undyne panted heavily, feeling extremely high-strung thanks to the heated conversation. Her legs eventually gave out from under her and she felt salty tears running down her cheeks. She cried the way she did years ago when she was a lost, abandoned child. The piano sat sadly next to her, all fucked up and splintered, and no longer playable. Undyne wasn't sure whether following Ebony would even matter at the moment. It wasn't going to solve much.

"Ebb, you fucking dummy. . ."

* * *

Sans travelled alongside Toriel with a happy bounce in his step, a neatly wrapped package nestled under one of his arms. In his other bony hand, he helped the goat woman and held some of her bags that contained souvenirs. The skelebro would finally be able to see his dazzling girlfriend again. His excitement was showing so much that he was freely tossing cheesy jokes left and right again like he used to, before they had to embark on their journey to the Surface.

"So Tori, how does a zombie feel after a long day at work?"

"I do not know, Sans; how do they feel?" Toriel was delighting in the fact that they could talk about puns and jokes while walking through the tedious tunnel to go back home. She was glad that she had found a good pun buddy in Sans.

"Easy! He feels _dead tired!_ Hey, and how about this one: So I thought about having a pencil with erasers on both ends..."

"Oh, what will this be now? Your jokes never get old!" gasped the goat woman with tears of laughter at the corners of her eyes.

"But then I thought... _What's the point?_ " Sans had the biggest grin yet, and it was obviously contagious, as Toriel was all smiles too now. "Get it?"

Toriel was dying now. She doubled over, letting out a hearty laugh before taking a second to pause and catch her breath. She tried to fan her own face with her big furry hand. "This is wonderful. It makes perfect sense, because how can you have a pencil with erasers on both ends? There _would_ be no point, so to speak! Ah, I am so glad to see you are back to your normal self, Sans!"

The skeleton chuckled and gave a quick, small shrug. "It's just good to be heading home. Finally! I can't wait to show Paps his book. ... And I can't wait to see Ebb."

Sans had bought Papyrus a book with a myriad of Italian recipes and plenty of pictures. After leafing through the book himself, he had gathered that Italy was perhaps well known for their combination of bread and pasta, among other things. The man could only imagine his brother's eyes popping excitedly out of his eye sockets at the idea of a land that existed on the Surface where pasta was _actually_ popular.

Sighing happily, Sans shut his eyes for a moment as his thoughts flew to Ebony. He was positive that the gift would look wonderful on her. He couldn't wait to see her vibrant smile again as she tried it on! Seeing Ebony again was just not happening soon enough for him.

He opened his eyes, still lost in the daydream of getting kissed over and over with the girl's warm lips. His gaze automatically trained on a figure off in the distance. How strange: According to Toriel, the Barrier rarely had other monsters traversing through lately. What piqued Sans' interest the most was that the person looked like... a human. They were a little too tall to be Frisk, and though they were rather lanky, they didn't look like Ebony either. He decided to try and greet them. Humans seldom walked through the Barrier for any reason.

"Heya kid, you lost or somethin'?" Sans called out to the figure, who turned around to face the two monsters. It was a young man with light skin and dark hair. Around his neck was an old red scarf, and he wore a dark gray jacket with black jeans. Underneath that jacket, the man had a beige turtleneck on. "If you need out o' this here tunnel, the exit's behind us."

The skelebro was expecting the human to make a big deal of seeing two unusual monsters like all the others on the Surface had done, but was surprised to see that the human was handling the situation rather calmly. It was almost too calm, and felt sort of uncomfortable.

The man's eyes surveyed the monsters that approached him, his gaze sharp but indifferent. Sans wasn't getting a good feeling from the guy, and was probably assuming correctly. His instincts about stuff like that was pretty spot-on. What was noticeable at first was the scarf around the human's neck. That was - "Hey, buddy... That scarf doesn't belong to you, does it?"

"I got it as a reward, so I believe it does belong to me," said the man coolly. It wasn't until Sans was a few feet away that he could see the knife in the stranger's hand... and the gray smears on the scarf. The dust of a monster.

Someone died.

Sans felt something terrible jump up into the back of his throat, the feeling of Horror making itself a home there and rendering him speechless. It couldn't be. It wasn't supposed to happen again. It wasn't Chara... _It... couldn't be._ Chara was much younger. But still: He _was_ the only one Sans knew of who would kill just to kill... The only one who would kill for the fun of it, because nothing else amused him...

Chara was the only one who killed others for the sake of EXP and LV.

"That scarf... doesn't belong to you," Sans managed again with an anxious gulp. The frustration felt inside of him grew exponentially and made the magic in his eye glow blindingly. Papyrus was * _not_ * supposed to die this time. It wasn't possible. Everything was going so well: The Barrier being broken; Tori and Asgore getting back together and adopting Frisk... and Sans, getting a girlfriend for once in his miserable life. Everyone was happy. Or _had_ been happy. The skeleton could feel his magic pulsing like rapid heartbeats in his bony body. Toriel was still there with him. He had to teleport her to safety. The heartless boy was probably not going to Spare the Queen. He didn't feel like putting in effort and wasting time joking with the boy. But was Sans going to be stuck in those nightmares for the rest of his lifespan? Because that's what it felt like: A pretty little nightmare that liked to loop itself constantly, and not letting the skeleton climb out of it.

Grabbing the bags and laying one hand on Toriel's arm, Sans teleported her back to the living room in the Ruins. He dropped all the bags promptly and spoke feverishly, as if he had dealt with something similarly in the past.

And he had indeed dealt with it a countless number of times before... When Chara was around, many timelines ago. The thing was, nobody else really remembered the child. The difference with Chara and that 'human' was that this time, Sans didn't know how to handle someone like this. The situation was new - unpredictable - and the idea of it made the skeleton extremely fearful and uncomfortable.

"You need to tell everyone to stay in their homes. Don't let them leave. Alphys can help you. Just don't... Just... Just stay away from the Barrier, okay, Tori? I have a friend to _ketchup_ with." He didn't give Toriel any time to speak, but instead flashed a quick smile before teleporting right back over to the stranger in the massive tunnel.

"Don't think I'm going to just let you run off with that scarf," Sans continued in a low, dangerous voice. "What did you to Paps?"

"If you're talking about the skeleton who had this scarf first... I got rid of him." The stranger answered simply with a noncommittal shrug. He let out a short laugh, his eyes cold and unforgiving. It sent chills up and down Sans' spine. "The guy was so weird, talking about wanting to be my 'friend' and trying to hug me a few rooms ago. I wasn't going to fall for his dumb shtick, so I killed him before he got to me."

 _Killed him._

 _Tried to be HIS friend? Paps tried being friends... with this killer?_

"You ruin my happy day and then tell me you killed my brother... and took his scarf for yourself. . .?" asked Sans incredulously, the feeling of displeasure coursing through his very being like a lethal injection of poison. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

It was then that the poor guy felt a head-splitting ache between his eyes, making him see stars and flashes of light. Sans doubled over and bit back a miserable groan, his bony phalanges spreading over his eyes as he glared up at the human. _Fuck._ The headache was back. What perfect timing.

"You're _his_ brother? Hah! If that's the case, then you'll die just as quickly, I'm sure. I'll just get rid of you and all the other disgusting creatures down here before heading back up." The young man stepped over and leaned forward slightly, his expression the very definition of contempt as he looked down at the skeleton in a condescending manner. "But I'll tell you something that you should know: My name is Liam. You're not going to like me one bit. And you know what the best thing is? I'm okay with that."

Sans opened his mouth to snap an answer in return, but the headache grew worse. Crying out in frustration and pain, he fell to his knees and held his head in his hands, desperately willing the head pains to go away so he could personally deal with yet _another_ dirty brother killer. His bones ached and even creaked; it felt bizarre, as if someone were trying to stretch or rip him apart.

The human grabbed Sans by the jacket's collar and readied the knife that he had been holding in his other hand. "You monsters shouldn't even be alive. You take up more space than we as humans would prefer. It's a wonder there are even some of you still existent in this world. But I digress... I think it's about time for you to die, you disgusting _thing_."

The skelebro's magic was pulsating wildly now. He could feel his control on it slipping, as if he didn't know how to use magic properly any more, and could no longer think straight. It was as if someone took a huge hammer to his head and decided to abandon all loose pieces on the floor. The unfamiliarity of the situation now terrified the poor skeleton. Sans raised a hand and tried to use his magic to push the human away from him, but a shot of pain hit the back of his head again where that hairline fracture existed. The pain persisted, completely hindering his movement and sense of logic as he suddenly blacked out completely.

Liam watched warily, holding Sans at a distance like some dead cockroach as he watched the skeleton fall limp in his grip. He wasn't entirely sure what happened, but he noticed a wisp of blue escaping from the crack on the back of the monster's head like a gas leak had sprung up. Was the thing still alive? He felt Sans shift in his grip and instinctively let go with a start, stepping back a bit as the skelebro hit the ground face-first.

It was like watching something straight out of a horror flick: Sans still looked quite unconscious, but his bones seemed to stretch and expand out of proportion, ripping through the clothing as if they were rice paper. Liam watched as the bones of the monster slowly cracked and reformed itself until what stood before him was no longer a normal skeleton. It seemed gruesome, but looked more creepy than anything else... Especially because the skelebro was unconscious just a second ago.

What stood before him within minutes was a big, terrible beast with a gaping jaw that stood hunched over on all fours. It towered over Liam, staring down at the human. One of its huge eye sockets flamed dark blue with an intense form of magic.

"What the fuck-"

Liam wasn't sure how any of it had even led up to that moment in time, but he had vaguely concluded that Sans was probably stronger than the skinny, useless little brother.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ _ **:**_

 _ **I apologize GREATLY for being unavailable with my story for about a few weeks now! I've had my ups and downs of being sick and busy, and then Smule's Sing app got me hooked all over again with all the covers I can make. To those of you who stuck around for this chapter to pop up, I hope it was passable! I still don't intend on stopping with this story until I get to the end. The Determination continues to exist within. c:**_

 _ **I will work on the next chapter - again - whenever I have the opportunity to. Thank you for your love, guys. I missed all my readers. :))**_

 _ **I don't think Paps is useless :( Gah, Liam is such a butt. And also, I always liked the idea of Sans as some skeletal creature. It just... sounds cool. xD**_

 _ **Please enjoy, have a Sanstastic day, and I'll see you guys at the next chapter!**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_

 _ **P.S.: Yes, I am well aware that I spelled the building as "librarby." Very much intended! c:**_


	26. Everyone Makes Mistakes

**Chapter 24: Everyone Makes Mistakes**

Was this one of those 'boss monsters' Flowey told him about? Liam gulped and stumbled backward, almost loosening the grip on his weapon as he stared in awe at Sans' new form. The guy was fucking _huge._

" _ **Don't freak out. It'll be a piece of cake. This bonehead's all looks and only has one HP.**_ " It was Chara again. The child rarely spoke, but when he did, it was normally words of encouragement. Liam was very grateful for the kid, who became friends with him since falling Underground. From the looks of things, nobody else was able to see Chara. That was perfectly fine with Liam, who figured he would rather be Chara's only friend anyway.

"Only one hit point? How do you know that?"

" _ **I've fought him many times in the past. He looks different now, but he'll probably still be a pain in the butt to hit. You could say he and I have... bonded after all those fights. He gets all excited when he hears my name. You should try it: Just say, 'Chara.' Hehehe..."**_

Okay, fuck that. Liam trusted Chara, but only so much. He knew that the kid was testing him, hoping that he'd go for it and have something 'fun' happen.

Sans gave a low growl and glowered at Liam, as it looked like the human was simply talking to himself. The corners of the boy's mouth twitched into an anxious smile and he ran his fingers through his jet-black hair. He tugged at the red scarf around his neck, stepping back and shifting all his weight onto one foot. Some thinking may need to come into play. Perhaps there would be some actual _difficulty_ in killing this particular monster. With the intention of attempting an attack, Liam decided to approach slowly this time. He shuffled forward carefully with one hand stretched out, tucking away the blade for a short moment. He had been hoping to bring Sans' guard down - perhaps the creature would think the boy meant no harm - but to no avail. Well, the beast wasn't _stupid_ , that was for sure.

It seemed that even though Sans was no longer capable of speaking, and apparently was not in the right state of mind to make rational decisions... he was obviously still quite riled up over the fact that Papyrus was gone - and rightly so. The long bony tail that had come with the change in form whipped to and fro dangerously in the air. He snapped his massive jaws in the direction of Liam's hand, as if meaning to say, "I'm not gonna trust any kindness from some filthy murderer."

Liam swiftly retracted his hand before he became an amputee and let out a frustrated growl himself. He brandished his blade as he looked about the area for some idea on how to approach the insufferable monster. All the other monsters he killed were of decent size, and there were no difficulties that presented themselves while he went about doing so. That ranting dummy, the weird child-sized talking rabbit, that wolf... Oh, right. There was that repulsive spider too. She had been causing him a few problems and wasn't letting him pass through because he wouldn't buy any baked goods, so he had no choice but to off her as well. He didn't quite like _bugs_ and _arachnids_ anyway, and the thing was wasting his time. But _this one monster_...

This one was huge and pretty much unapproachable. That tail would pose as an issue and could easily cover a large area while in the tunnel. It would be hard to avoid. And... How does one damage _bone_ as thick and durable as that? Sans was now _much_ more thick-boned than Papyrus was.

The boy had taken one second too long to think; before he knew it, he was thrown onto his back and pinned down by one of Sans' gargantuan claws. Liam gasped as the wind was forcibly taken from his lungs, trying to get at the beast with his knife... but to no avail. Sans' glowing blue eye flared for but a moment, and Liam's blade flew out of his hand. It clattered faintly in the distance, and his hope went right along with the thing.

Shit.

The skeleton beast drew in close to the offending human, sharp teeth gritting together and producing a screeching sound like that of nails on a chalkboard. The noise was too much, and made Liam's ears ring. The human grunted and tried to push the claws away, but Sans overpowered the boy by a long shot at that point. Sans unhinged his jaws and Liam gaped fearfully as an ominous special attack grew and pulsed with magical energy in the monster's mouth. The thing was preparing something deadly just for the dark haired child. It would be one that the human couldn't ever hope to survive. Sans fixed his gaze on the red scarf around Liam's neck and tightened his claws around the boy's fragile ribs.

* * *

It took a while to find her way through the CORE, but Ebony eventually made it to the throne room. The CORE was probably one of the biggest pains she had experienced. A plethora of rooms and hallways with a shitload of lasers littering the place? And the _noise_ of machines running and what-not... The girl didn't want to experience any of that again.

Now, unpleasantries aside. . .

If she read the map in her Torn Notebook correctly, the Barrier would be past the room with the thrones and down the hall in the back. It was the map that Undyne had worked hard to draw out. Ebony used the heel of her left hand to rub at her cheeks, which were still streaked with tears. The big, ridiculous argument with Undyne was vividly replaying over and over in her mind. Ebony did admit... The words that were so hastily thrown at each other were highly unnecessary. People say and do dumb things when they're pissed off. She wished she hadn't made the mistake of saying any of those horrible things to her best friend.

It wasn't until she reached the throne room that she noticed more of the weird gray dust. Toriel and Asgore hadn't used those thrones in a while; she supposed it made sense for the dust to collect over time. But why was there so much of it?

The dust led from the throne room and toward the back, through another doorway. Ebony followed it curiously, shoving the notebook in her back pocket. The corners of the book dug uncomfortably into the right cheek of her ass, but the bulky item wasn't something she felt like holding at the moment. As she stepped along and followed the thin trail of dust, the young woman jumped in her sneakers and looked up while the ceiling shook. Debris drifted down to the ground in slow motion, making the woman wave the area in front of her with her hand so as to avoid the inevitable clouds of dust that billowed up. The dust coated the back of Ebony's throat when she inhaled, forcing her to break out into a coughing fit. She thought she had heard a monstrous bellow that reverberated down the dim hallway. Ebony gulped and peered down the hall with tears in the corners of her eyes from all the involuntary coughing. Well, she was so close to the end already... She'd be a damn idiot if she were to turn back now.

When she finally made it into the tunnel, Ebony grabbed nervously at her tattered scarf, struggling to find a way to collect her thoughts. She tried to find the source of the loud noise. A strangled, pained cry loosed itself perhaps in the next room over and the girl immediately shaped up, breaking into a frantic sprint down the tunnel. What the fuck was that? She had to help whomever was falling victim to the owner of that roar from a moment ago. There, in the distance, Ebony found a creature of impressive stature bearing down on a human under one of its feet. This upset the girl greatly, who suddenly felt the need to say something. Anything would do.

"HEY!"

 _Yeah... Anything but THAT would have done just fine. Real original,_ Ebony thought with an inward cringe. So much for coming off as heroic. But the word that she had barked aloud had caught the monster's attention all the same. Sans paused a moment and twitched in recognition at hearing the girl's voice, with Liam still struggling to escape from beneath the skele-beast's death grip. This gave Ebony enough time to make it to Liam and kick a couple of times at the claws that held him down.

Though he wasn't injured physically by the action, Sans seemed to give a snort of surprise and loosened his hold on Liam. Ebony quickly dragged the boy to his feet. Liam let out a wheeze and gasped as air filled his lungs once again.

"Are you okay? What the fuck is this... _thing_?" Ebony's green eyes moved along Liam's body to ensure that no major damages had been made after having been assaulted by the skeletal beast.

"That... He..." Liam began weakly, but was soon cut off by a threatening growl from Sans. Ebony whirled around and accusingly pointed one index finger at the skelebro, her eyes narrowing.

" _You_! Shut up! I don't want to hear another _bone-shattering_ roar from you. I don't know what you are, but it gives you no right to attack a human! You're a _bad monster!_ "

Sans seemed to flinch from being scolded, but he shook his massive head side-to-side and huffed as if trying to remember something important. That human... was special to him... somehow. And did she just throw out a weird pun without thinking about it? Something about hearing a pun again stirred a sense of familiarity within him. His deadly tail whipped down on the ground from frustration as a barrage of thoughts and instincts clashed with one another in his brain. The brown hair and green eyes... Sans struggled to remember what was so special about the woman. The thought was just within reach, but he couldn't summon it even if he tried.

"I knew you were going to show up eventually," said Liam as he cracked his thumbs one at a time with his chin. His voice was still ragged after being pinned down by Sans from a moment ago.

Ebony turned back to Liam and opened her mouth to say something, but caught him in the strange force of habit and let out a gasp of surprise. She only knew one person who did such a weird thing. And those sharp, green eyes... So unlike her own mossy green ones, but still oh-so-familiar. She hadn't paid much attention to it earlier. Even while standing and slumping over from aching, Liam still stood taller than Ebony by a good few inches. Because of the height difference, it didn't feel likely...

She was afraid to say it, lest she assume incorrectly, but swallowed down the lump in her throat and forced the name from her lips anyways with squinted eyes and furrowed brows.

"Brenn. . .?"

"There is no 'Brenn.' The name is 'Liam' now."

"What?" Ebony shook her head in disbelief and held the back of her hand up to her mouth, struggling to make sense of the situation. "Since _when_? You've always been 'Brennivin'-"

"Since the day I woke up from the... 'coma,' was it? ... and found that you abandoned me. For a life with _monsters_ , apparently. 'Brennivin' died the day I lost my way and fell Underground. I was _trying_ to kill myself... Guess I jumped down the wrong ravine, huh?" Liam let out an empty laugh and rubbed at his chin with his knuckles - another strange habit of his that he did when he was upset - while he glared coldly at Ebony. His eyes flickered up momentarily to check on Sans. The monster was still shaking his head and trying to sort his thoughts out; the poor idiot. "My only friends have been Flowey and Chara. Chara was right, you know; killing that other skinny, dorky skeleton would make for a _world_ of changes - and really quickly, too."

Sans reacted harshly to the name 'Chara' and dug his claws into the ground with a sudden hiss, leaving deep, horrid marks in the dirt. Ebony took a step forward with widened eyes, grabbing Liam by the shoulders and shaking him roughly.

"Did you say...? You killed Papyrus? Is that _his_ scarf?!" Ebony felt a chill run down her spine. Her brother spoke of murder a little too easily, and she wasn't quite happy with such a notion. The _feeling_. It was stepping straight from the happiness of reuniting with her brother and stumbling right into a whirlpool of disappointment and sadness. What had become of Brennivin? The bright, positive musician who made for a much better sibling than Ebony herself? "You fucking _idiot!_ Why would you even kill Paps? He's got such a good heart - And you became 'friends' with _Flowey?_ That thing is _NOT_ a friend, Brenn! And... who the fuck is ' _Chara_ '? Nobody else is here!" The girl stopped when she saw the despondent look on her little brother's face. She immediately felt remorse; this was not how she wanted their little 'reunion' to go.

"Oh, Chara's right here. He's been with me even while you came down here to stop this beast. Do you think I had a long list of 'Great Friends To Choose From' on hand in the first place? Do you not remember how ' _good_ ' those other kids were to me on the Surface? You're stupid," scoffed Liam with a shrug. "Besides, Flowey's been pretty good to me. I dunno about _you_. At least he and Chara don't ditch me. And I didn't realize until I got down here that killing's actually sort of fun. It's a good way of letting off steam. Chara was the one who introduced me to the idea in the first place."

Liam drew in close - much too close for comfort, even for his big sister - and spoke with derision as he stared down at Ebony.

"Don't call me 'Brenn,' Ebony. I'm not that naive little... music-obsessed... brat."

He shoved his sister away roughly. As soon as the brown haired girl hit the floor, Sans was on Liam in an instant, his tail creating a high-pitched whistling through the air and slamming the boy square in the chest. There was an audible, disgusting _CRACK_ before the dark haired child went flying and hit the wall, making the tunnel shake dangerously. Ebony let out a wild scream and tried to scramble to her feet as quickly as she could, while Liam crumpled like a rag doll onto the floor.

" _BRENNIVIN! Oh god, oh my god why did this thing even - God dammit, why the fuck did you do that?!_ " The young girl ran toward the skele-beast and pulled her folded knife out from her pocket, flipping it open with a cry of despair. "You... fucking _monster_! That was my brother! I swear to _god_ if you killed him, I'll - _Jesus fucking christ, are you_. . ."

Ebony had caught the magical glowing blue eyes and tried to skid to a stop when it clicked in her brain about who this monster actually was. It was the only possible punster Underground who used blue magic the most. However, she realized a little too recoiled at the sight of another knife and swiftly jabbed his sharp, bony claws forward into Ebony's gut. He lifted her up with ease and flicked her body off to the side, his eyes darting around frantically as he searched for any other offending weapon. Ebony hit the floor roughly and rolled a few times, eventually stopping on her side as she fought to catch her breath. Her green eyes caught sight of a mangled package just within reach.

Trying to block out the feeling of white-hot pain in her belly, the young woman reached out with her bloody hands and clawed weakly at the package, which had been torn open after all the chaos in the tunnel. Sans must have accidentally stepped on it or something when he became... whatever he was now. Or maybe it was just what he always was:

A monster.

Ebony's fingers scrabbled for the fabric in the package and she pulled it into view. It was difficult to make out what it was at first - even more-so because the girl was dizzy from losing blood so quickly. It was a skater dress with cute little music notes adorning the bottom half. It was... perfection. The color of the dress matched her scarf, to boot. Tears gathered in the girl's eyes and fell to the ground in droplets the size of pearls when she recognized it as her birthday surprise from Sans. It was simply too innocent-looking for a filthy human like her. But this was partially the reason why he had gone to the Surface. He had done it for her sake.

The blood from her massive open wound slowly gathered around her body. Ebony's limbs began to twitch occasionally against her will due to the shock of blood loss.

Sans rapidly came down from his adrenaline high. He lumbered over toward one of the walls to rest as the feeling of awareness returned to him, feeling the well of magic in his body die down until it was at the usual comfortable level. He soon found himself crawling on all fours as a regular skeleton again, and not as a gigantic beast. Standing up dizzily, he noticed he didn't quite have anything on since changing into that terrifying form destroyed what clothing he did have. It was very difficult to remember what had happened while he was in that beast-like form, but he vaguely remembered... Liam. Looking around in a panic for the human who _was_ about to kill him, Sans found the boy dead on the floor against the wall. Whatever had done the job had been used with such force that Liam's ribs and chest were caved in. The skelebro didn't think there would be any saving for that human.

Breathing a sigh of relief because he didn't have to do the killing this time, Sans scanned his surroundings to find the package that had Ebony's gift inside of it. He didn't have his own clothing, but he needed to make sure that the present was safe. There, lying _much_ further off in a pool of her own blood, was Ebony... with the present. She seemed to be holding the dress close to her face. With a look of pure horror, Sans' eye sockets widened and he teleported over to the human. Totally disregarding the fact that he was stark-naked - so to speak - the skeleton dropped to his knees in the blood and desperately reached out in vain for the girl, letting out a strangled cry of despair. She was a little too far gone to see the tears that dripped from her boyfriend's eyes. The dress Sans had bought for the girl was now bloodied, and though he tried to move it away from her face, Ebony did not want to let go of the thing. She fought weakly with the skelebro and moved her lips soundlessly. Sans couldn't hear what she said until he leaned in close to listen carefully.

"... thank . . . you..."

"No... No - _**nonono**_ \- babe, you're _not..._ This is just a sick joke... right?" Sans laughed shakily as he sat up and held a hand up to his head. "Heh... You know I love jokes, but this is goin' a little too far, baby! Joke time's over, okay? I-I mean, I just got back, I was excited to see you, and you were supposed to try the thing on so I can tell you how beautiful you always will be, a-and how much you make the dress shine because you're the one wearin' it... I, heh, already had everything planned, and I was so ready to sweep you off your feet after seein' the look of delight on your face! . . . I... I already lost Papyrus... I can't just - Jesus _christ_ \- I can't just lose you too..."

He shook his head with another borderline hysterical laugh, making Ebony's green eyes shift slowly so she could get a good look at him. The girl wanted to apologize to him for cheating on him. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to hold him and thank him for everything, and most of all, she even wanted to thank him for helping her die... because she wouldn't have been able to live with knowing that Brenn was alive the whole time, Underground just as she had been, and knowing that Sans had just as quickly killed the boy off within minutes of the siblings' reunion. Did the skelebro remember doing anything while his magic was out of control? Ebony wouldn't have been able to handle knowing any of that if she were living.

It was better this way. And Ebony wanted so badly to thank Sans for that.

"Baby - Sweetie, h-hey... Who did this to you, baby?" Sans was afraid to find out who had done the damage. Was it the same one who had killed Liam as well? Was he the cause of all of it? His fears were confirmed when Ebony's eye contact did not break with his, focusing as best she could to convey to him that yes, unfortunately, he was the very monster who had done all of that. Blinking tears away in disbelief, Sans sobbed and reached down for Ebony's hand, intertwining his bony phalanges between her own fingers, which were growing colder by the second. The girl was losing too much blood, and it was all his fault. He wasn't even aware that he had killed his lover. He... wasn't even sure what happened to make him change into an animal the way he did. Was it really the fracture in his skull? He felt pretty sure about it. There were plenty of things about his magic that he had yet to learn. Sans knew he had lost control over his own magic for a good amount of time, and had never before experienced such an anomaly until the cracked skull event. The excessive amount of anxiety he felt made his bones rattle noisily as he trembled uncontrollably.

He wanted to teleport her to safety, to Toriel's house in the Ruins, to Alphys' Lab... _SOMEWHERE._ He wanted to save her so badly. But with the state the girl was in, Sans just couldn't guarantee her life if he simply pulled her along with magic like that. He knew better than to attempt such a thing.

Ebony felt her eyes involuntarily roll up to the back of her head. She was getting... so tired. It was an extreme effort to keep her eyes open, despite hearing Sans' low, constant pleas to stay awake. His voice was her lullaby, and she eventually closed her eyes for the last time after trying unsuccessfully to pull his hand up to her face.

Sans stared down at his girlfriend and watched helplessly as the light left the girl's beautiful green eyes. His teeth clacked and his mind spun as he forced himself to look away. He felt himself dry heave a few times. No... No, he didn't want to be there. All of it was a nightmare, and he'd be waking up in a cold sweat soon... Ebony would be lying next to him, easing him patiently out of his silly anxiety attack like she used to do. She'd sing softly for him whenever she slept over at the house. Sans waited for the impossible to happen and choked back a harsh sob when he realized he had no choice but to somehow force himself to accept that he had lost the two people whom he held dearest to him.

He hunched over Ebony and finally let his tears fall onto her cold body.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_

 _ **I'd like to take the time to apologize for my long period of absence. *she bows***_

 _ **This story isn't quite done, so dooooon't think it has stopped already! :)**_

 _ **A whole bunch of things have happened to me in the past couple of months and my tablet was having issues, therefore preventing me from posting anything properly from the comfort of my home. I'm very grateful to those of you who are still reading this, and I am even more happy to those of you who have taken the time to type out reviews! Thank you thank you thank you.**_

 _ **Anyways, moving forward... I had this chapter typed out some time ago, so while I had no internet connection to post it, it simply meant I had more time to go through the content and change things as I pleased. I'm sorry I went and did that to them. I guess we'll have to see how Sans handles this. :'3**_

 _ **I'll be seeing you guys at the next chapter! :D**_

 _ **\- LostInnocenz**_


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